Ba-ta-clan
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Ba-ta-clan |
| Original title: | Ba-ta-clan |
| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Jacques Offenbach |
| Libretto : | Ludovic Halévy |
| Premiere: | December 29, 1855 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris |
| Playing time: | about an hour |
| Place and time of the action: | Fantasy China around 1850 |
| people | |
Ba-ta-clan is a one- act operetta by Jacques Offenbach . The libretto written Ludovic Halévy . The two artists called their work a chinoiserie musicale . It premiered on December 29, 1855 in Offenbach's own small Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in Paris . The operetta parodies both militarism and conditions at the court of the Second Empire. Musically, the finale is indirectly quoted from the opera Die Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer , in that Offenbach takes up the motif of the chant A solid castle is our God by Martin Luther , which Meyerbeer also uses in his opera. The title of the operetta served as a model for the name of a Parisian entertainment establishment (today mostly written Bataclan ).
action
The setting is a fictional Far Eastern empire at the time of the premiere.
Fé-ni-han rules a miniature Chinese empire in the Far East. Since his subjects are not supposed to notice that he is a secretly French immigrant and as such does not even speak the official language of Chinese, he has created his own language that at least sounds like Chinese. His closest confidants are the young Mandarin Ké-ki-ka-ko and the beautiful girl Fé-an-nich-ton, whom he has made princess.
As it happens, these two are amazed to discover that they are also Parisian exiles. The longing for their hometown ignites in them, so that they finally plan to escape the small kingdom unseen. Ko-ko-ri-ko, suspicious commander of the imperial guard, who observed the two, is convinced, even without understanding what has been said, to arrest them. He demands a draconian punishment for the couple before the emperor.
The emperor tried to convince his commander, but when the Ba-ta-clan march sounded, he changed his mind in a flash and sentenced the prisoners to death. Before the execution, however, Fé-an-nich-ton brings a lovely French tune to be heard. Now the emperor also recognizes the delinquents as his compatriots, and the ardent desire to return home overwhelms him. Ko-ko-ri-ko promises them their freedom on the condition that they never return. So everyone's wishes have been met, especially since the throne is vacant. While Ko-ko-ri-ko is boarding it, the three French board a ship that takes them to their homeland.
Musical highlights
- Quartet: Cloc Cloc, mock mock in a fantasy Chinese
- Princess romance: J'étais aimable, élégante / I was lovable and elegant
- Duet between the emperor and his commander: Morto, morto
- March: Ba-ta-clan (occurring several times)
- Trio: Je suis Français, il est Français
- Prayer of the condemned to death, indirectly borrowed from Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Die Huguenots (chorale theme "A strong castle" by Martin Luther)