Barkouf
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| Title: | Barkouf |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Jacques Offenbach |
| Libretto : | Eugène Scribe and Henry Boisseaux |
| Premiere: | December 24, 1860 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris, Opéra-Comique |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ½ hours |
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Barkouf or a dog in power is an opéra-bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach from 1860 . The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Henry Boisseaux.
content
first act
Market day in Lahore. The two traders Maïma and Balkis advertise their goods. Bababeck, the incumbent governor's corrupt cupbearer, makes advances to them. He is a widower and is getting on in years, but still imagines his attractiveness and therefore longs for the day when he brought his ugly daughter Périzade under the hood and then indulged in the amusements of a bachelor household can. Up close, the noise of a riot booms over. Unsuspecting, Bababeck hurries to his house across from the government palace. Balkis worries about her lover Xaïloum, who is not missing from any provocation and whom she suspects to be among the rebels. Maïma also pours out her heart and tells Balkis about the sad loss of her lover Saëb and her loyal dog Barkouf, both of whom were kidnapped some time ago by recruiters. Meanwhile, a governor has once again been thrown out the window. At regular intervals, the exploited and harassed people venture out in this way, with the result that the successor appointed by the Mughals usually rules the province even more draconian than his predecessor. Among the rebels, as suspected, is also Xaïloum, who chilled his head with the demolition of Bababeck's residence and who is therefore forced to hide from the militia when the Great Mogul arrives in the rebellious city.
Instead of appointing Bababeck as the new governor, as he himself hopes and expects, the great mogul decides to make an example and quickly makes his dog the new head of government of Lahore. Bababeck is raised to the rank of vizier who has to punctually implement the laws and orders of the governor dog, otherwise he, Bababeck, awaits a severe punishment. Maïma almost faints when she not only recognizes the missing Saëb as a soldier in the Grand Mogul's wake, but also her barkouf in the newly enthroned dog of the Grand Mogul!
Second act
Bababeck worries that his future son-in-law - it is the unfortunate Saëb, as it quickly turns out - will knock out his daughter's hand as soon as he sees it, and therefore orders Périzade to receive Saëb only with the veil down. Périzade, who is no longer completely fresh, wants to know from her father why, after years of searching and rejections, he has suddenly found an applicant willing to marry for her. The explanation is simple. Bababeck has evidence that Saëb's father was planning an attack on the penultimate governor and is using it to blackmail him. The marriage between Saëb and Périzade is the price for Bababeck's discretion. Saëb, in order to save his father, has submitted to his lot without knowing his future wife. Now all that is required for the consummation of the marriage is the written and oral consent of the new governor. But Bababeck's servant Kaliboul, who was sent to Barkouf to have the marriage contract ratified by him, comes back in panic fear that Barkouf will tear him to pieces, dead pale and unsuccessful. This is followed by disappointment about the delay on the part of Périzade and Bababeck, as well as great relief from Saëb, who even after years of separation only thinks of one thing: his lost Maïma.
Maïma has come to the palace and demands to be admitted to the new governor. Bababeck recognizes the adorable girl from the market and does not turn her away. Maïma can dispel his concerns that Barkouf would tear her to pieces immediately, because years ago they were of one heart and one soul, and he was literally eating out of her hand. Bababeck recognizes the moment and reveals his brilliant plan to Maïma: He will officially appoint her as Barkouf's chamber secretary and exclusive interpreter, as she is the only one who allows Barkouf to be near him. Bababeck's own government decisions, announced from Maïma's mouth, could thus be sold to the people as orders of Governor Barkouf without anyone seeing through the fraud. Maïma understands the intrigue immediately and agrees without hesitation to the proposal of a secret co-government with Bababeck.
Immediately she goes to Barkouf's rooms. To the satisfaction of Bababeck and to the great surprise of the farm, the dog is ecstatic at the sight of her. Instead of attacking her, he indulges in expressions of love for his former mistress. As proof of his devotion, Maïma brings back the marriage document "signed" by Barkouf, not realizing that she is making herself the executor of Saëb's unwanted marriage to Périzade. Bababeck triumphs and opens the audience. A delegation of citizens of Lahore presents a petition asking for a reduction in the tax burden as the people would be crushed by the taxes. Maïma goes to Barkouf and then "translates" his answer - not, however, as Bababeck whispers to her, as a rejection of the request, but as approval. The foaming Bababeck still believes that it could be a misunderstanding, but with the next application - it is the pardon for Xaïloum, who has been sentenced to death - he is taught better. Because again Maïma "translates" the opposite of Bababeck's orders, namely the pardon of Xaïloum. As the people cheer for the wise and mild new ruler, Bababeck grudges his teeth to understand that he has become the victim of his own intrigue. He seeks revenge.
Maïma's elation turns into the opposite when she sees Saëb holding Périzade's hand with the best man on the way to the governor, because the governor's verbal consent to the marriage of his vizier's daughter is still pending. Maïma has nothing to do with the fathers' date and has to assume that Saëb broke the oath of loyalty he had given her years ago. Bababeck cannot prevent Maïma from “translating” a third time against his interests. Barkouf revokes - his angry barking leaves no doubt about that, and so it conveys to Maïma - the previously given written consent to the marriage of Saëb and Périzade.
Third act
There is only one way to put a stop to Maïma's uncontrollable actions: the governor himself must be got out of the way. A group of conspirators around Bababeck and the unemployed Hofschranzen plan to poison Barkouf. At the same time, they want to ally themselves with the Tartars who camp outside the city. This has become easy prey after the Great Mughal withdrew the military and set off for a punishment campaign in another province. The freed Xaïloum witnesses the conspiracy. He has snuck into the seraglio to finally see his beloved Balkis, who has moved into the palace with Maïma. However, he only understands every second word and can therefore only make a very imprecise report. Maïma, who has meanwhile been able to speak to Saëb and now knows about the background to his forced marriage, is forewarned. She sets a trap for the conspirators. During the evening banquet, Barkouf is dripped poison into his wine. But Maïma calls on the conspirators on behalf of the governor to drink the same wine for his own good, which blows the coup. At that moment the Tartars storm into the city. The people take up arms and, led by Barkouf and Saëb, put their enemies to flight. The Grand Mughal, having returned from his punitive expedition, only has to legitimize the new circumstances: the marriage of the clever Maïma with the brave Saëb and a glorious, popularly acclaimed governor Barkouf.
Work history
Two years after the success of the Orphée aux Enfers , Offenbach premiered his opéra-bouffe Barkouf on December 24, 1860 at the Opéra-Comique (Salle Favart) . It was his first work for the house in which he had served as a cellist in the orchestra pit in 1835/36, almost a child. Offenbach conducted the premiere himself. The soloists were Charles-Louis Sainte-Foy (Bababeck), Elias Nathan (Mughal), Victor Warot (Saëb), Lemaire (Kaliboul), Jean Berthelier (Xaïloum), Marie Marimon (Maïma), Emma- Zoé Bélia (Balkis) and Alphonsine-Virginie-Marie Dubois “Mlle Casimir” (Périzade).
A dog in the main role of a bittersweet political satire: the Parisian audience could live with that - three numbers had to be repeated at the premiere - but not public opinion. As with the Orphée , Offenbach was accused of bad taste and immorality, as well as attacks on his unexpectedly complex music, which even brought him a comparison with Richard Wagner, who suffered badly in Paris. In contrast to the Orphée, the hype in the press did not give the work its breakthrough, but rather its removal after only eight performances. Barkouf was never published, apart from twelve individual numbers as a piano reduction, and the score disappeared for a long time in an archive of the composer's descendants, until it was recently rediscovered by Offenbach editor Jean-Christophe Keck and on the occasion of Offenbach's 200th birthday in the Offenbach Edition is published.
As a satire on absolutism and patriarchal forms of rule, Barkouf dwarfs the political parody produced in the 19th century, and so it is not surprising that the censorship authority initially banned Scribes libretto all around. Several interventions and reworkings were necessary before the text, heavily toned down, could be set to music. With the score for Barkouf, Offenbach created a mixture of seria and buffa elements that is unique in operatic history , in which burlesque and drama continually interact, in which the grotesque is at a point in time when his development to the grandmaster of the opéra-bouffe could not be foreseen - alternate comical tableaus in the footsteps of Rossini with delicate lyrical inspirations.
The first performance of Barkouf took place after almost 158 years in the 2018/19 season at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg. It was staged by Mariame Clément , and it was conducted by Jacques Lacombe . The stage and costumes were from Julia Hansen . Philippe Berthomé was responsible for the lighting. The actors were Rodolphe Briand (Bababeck), Nicolas Cavallier (Mughal), Patrick Kabongo (Saëb), Loïc Félix (Kaliboul), Stefan Sbonnik (Xaïloum), Pauline Texier (Maïma), Fleur Barron (Balkis) and Anaïs Yvoz (Périzade) .
In October 2019, this production moved - as a German premiere - to the Cologne Opera . Stefan Soltesz conducted there , the solo parts were by Matthias Klink (Bababeck), Bjarni Thor Kristinsson (Mughal), Patrick Kabongo (Saëb), Martin Koch (Kaliboul), Sunnyboy Dladla (Xaïloum), Sarah Aristidou (Maïma), Judith Thielsen (Balkis ) and Kathrin Zukowski (Périzade) played and sung.
literature
- Offenbach's dangerous debut at the Opéra-Comique: Barkouf (1860). In: Elisabeth Schmierer (Ed.): Jacques Offenbach and his time. Regensburg 2009, p. 66.
- Jean-Claude Yon: Jacques Offenbach. Paris 2009
- Peter Hawig: Barkouf, Boule-de-Neige, Snowball. Traces of a lost opera by Offenbach . Bad Ems: VGDL, 2000
- Robert L. Folstein: Barkouf, Ba-Ta-Clan, Les bavards . In: Jacques Offenbach: an annotated discography . Bad Emser Hefte, Volume 3. Bad Ems: VGDL, 1984
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information in the libretto .
- ↑ December 24, 1860: "Barkouf". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ Season 2016/2017 (fin). with Jean-Christophe Keck
- ↑ Work entry on the website of the music publisher Boosey & Hawkes
- ↑ Opera. Retrieved June 22, 2018 (French).
- ↑ Laurent Bury: Barkouf, ou un chien au pouvoir - Strasbourg. In: Forum Opéra. December 9, 2018.
- ↑ Barkouf or a dog in power at the Opéra national du Rhin (Strasbourg), accessed on November 3, 2019
- ↑ Barkouf ou un chien au pouvoir (or a dog in power) at the Cologne Opera, accessed on October 10, 2019