La jolie fille de Perth

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Work data
Original title: La jolie fille de Perth
Shape: Number opera
Original language: French
Music: Georges Bizet
Libretto : Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jules Adenis
Literary source: Saint Valentine's Day or The Fair Maid of Perth by Sir Walter Scott
Premiere: December 26, 1867
Place of premiere: Théâtre-Lyrique , Paris
Playing time: approx. 2 ¼ hours
Place and time of the action: Perth , late 13th century
people
  • Henri Smith, armorer ( tenor )
  • Simon Glover, Glove Maker ( Bass )
  • Catherine Glover, his daughter ( soprano )
  • Ralph, Glover's apprentice ( bass baritone )
  • The Duke de Rothsay ( baritone )
  • A gentleman in the service of the Duke (tenor)
  • The Duke's Steward (bass)
  • Mab, an attractive gypsy ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Workers, servants, guests of the Duke, artists, masks, young people, gypsies ( choir )

La jolie fille de Perth (German: The beautiful girl of Perth ) is an opera in four acts by Georges Bizet . The libretto written Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jules Adenis . The opera is based on the novella Saint Valentine's Day or The Fair Maid of Perth by Sir Walter Scott .

Performances

The first performance took place on December 26, 1867 in the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris . The opera was rarely performed in the 20th century , around 1968 at the Wexford Festival Opera . Even today it is usually only played by Bizet in special commemorative years. Mainly concert performances take place, for example in 2010 at the Stadttheater Bern .

action

On Valentine's Day during the carnival season, the armorer Henri Smith presented Catherine Glover, whom he admired, with a brooch in the shape of a rose to symbolically announce his intention to marry. The Duke de Rothsay is also interested in the beautiful Catherine, but at the same time has a relationship with Mab, an attractive gypsy. There are other admirers of Catherine. This creates numerous entanglements, complications, intrigues and misunderstandings. Catherine is unjustifiably accused of unfaithfulness, whereupon she withdraws to a lonely mountain area and goes mad. The desperate armorer wants to defend the honor of his beloved and prove her innocence by means of a duel . When he sings an intimate love song to her, she wakes up from her madness and believes that she has only dreamed. The situation is cleared up, the two lovers find each other and everyone involved is now celebrating carefree Carnival.

Discography (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zazzerino
  2. ↑ Stadttheater Bern ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )