Le colin-maillard
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| Title: | Le colin-maillard |
Title page of the libretto, Paris 1853 |
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| Shape: | Opéra-comique in one act |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Aristide Hignard |
| Libretto : | Jules Verne and Michel Carré |
| Premiere: | April 28, 1853 |
| Place of premiere: | Théâtre-Lyrique Paris |
| Place and time of the action: | In the forest of Meudon , at the time of Louis XV. , 1744 |
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Le colin-maillard (German about "The Blind Cow Game ") is an opera comique in one act by Aristide Hignard (music) with a libretto by Jules Verne and Michel Carré . It was premiered on April 28, 1853 at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris.
action
Prehistory. The court florist Casimir Bonneau lives with his sister Pélagie, a "young lady" of 47 who has sworn not to marry her three nieces Florine, Colette and Brigitte until after their own wedding. The three young girls resort to a trick to speed up this marriage. When an old financier, the Baron de la Verdure, writes a love letter to Colette, the girls smuggle it into Pélagie's basket, who then begins an amorous exchange of letters with her supposed admirer. The baron arranges a rendezvous with Pélagie (whom he takes to be Colette) in the forest of Meudon . This is where the three young girls order their lovers.
Scene 1. At the beginning of the opera, the three young men arrive at the agreed location and introduce themselves (No. 1, trio: “Florine, belle Florine”). Cyprien, a “gallant and loyal painter”, loves Florine. Colette's admirer is Léonidas, “the king's soldier and in love with every beauty”. Cotylédon, Brigitte's lover, studies "in the absence of anything better pharmacy". When the baron appears, the young people hide to watch him.
Scene 2. The baron initially thinks he is alone because his lover has not yet arrived (No. 2, Air Bouffe: “Quel aimable financier”). Shortly afterwards the three young men return and make fun of him until he explains to them the reason for his presence. The three realize that the expected lady is the aunt of their girls. Léonidas sings a playful aria (No. 3: “Vous désirez savoir”), and the three of them walk away laughing.
Scene 3. The baron continues to wait impatiently for Colette.
Scene 4. Casimir, who arrives with a basket full of food, informs the baron that he is expecting his sister and three nieces here. Because Casimir ignores his hint to leave, the baron himself leaves the place disappointed.
Scene 5. Pélagie and the three nieces arrive, delighted to have escaped the boring city life (No. 4, ensemble: “Qu'il est doux”). While the girls are looking for flowers in the forest, Pélagie discovers that Casimir has forgotten the cutlery. She wants to get it from Madame de Lauraguais. Casimir is concerned that something could happen to her if she walks through the forest alone. However, she calms him down (No. 5, Couplets: “Monsieur, ne vous déplaise”).
Scene 6. The girls talk about the trick they played on their aunt on the letter to make them match. They complain to Casimir about boredom and ask him to let them wander freely for a while. Colette elaborates on this wish in her couplets (No. 6: “Devant toi, nous plaidons la danse”). Suddenly they hear strange noises and Casimir leaves the scene to look for the cause.
Scene 7. The three young men take the opportunity to greet their loved ones. They quickly grab some groceries and back off again.
Scene 8. Casimir returns without having found anything (No. 7, septet: “Je n'ai rien vu”). He is shocked to find that the groceries are gone. The young girls deny having taken them.
Scene 9. Now the three men come back one after the other. Each one of them generously offers the astonished Casimir some of the stolen food that he allegedly received from an old faun , a Silvanus or a raven. Casimir has no suspicions, but feels flattered. He invites the three to dinner together, which they gladly accept. He even notes that he would like to marry off his nieces to men like them. When they reply that their own applications have already been rejected by Pélagie because she would first have to find a husband herself, Casimir suggests that one of them could marry the aunt to solve the problem.
Scene 10. The baron's appearance interrupts the conversation. He is upset that Colette came to the rendezvous accompanied by other people. Casimir immediately brings the conversation to his sister, who actually has an appointment with the baron. He asks the baron to keep the young people company while he looks for Pélagie.
Scene 11. When the Baron asks Colette to come and see him, Léonidas stands between the two and suggests that they play the blind cow to pass the time. He himself wanted to be blindfolded. The baron immediately agrees, hoping to get closer to Colette. During the game, Léonidas reaches for the baron, whom he recognizes after some deliberately wrong answers. Then it is the baron's turn. Colette whispers to him that she wants to be caught by him. He just wasn't allowed to take off the blindfold. While the baron searches for her in the play, the others gradually move away (No. 9, ensemble: “Tirons-lui notre révérence”).
Scene 12. The returning Pélagie is surprised that the others are nowhere to be seen. Believing that it was Colette, the baron reaches for her and celebrates his success (No. 10, duet and finale: “Quelle journée enchanteresse”). Pélagie is surprised that he calls her Colette. Finally the baron notices from her voice that it must be someone else. He takes off his armband. Pélagie recognizes in him her former fiancé Polydor, who left her years ago on the eve of the planned wedding. The baron wants to flee in horror, but Pélagie has never given up her love for him and under no circumstances does he want to let him go again.
Scene 13. Now the others join in too. After Pélagie has clarified the baron's identity, the latter has no choice but to consent to marry her. This clears the way for the other couples.
layout
orchestra
According to the information in the piano reduction, the orchestral line-up of the opera contains the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : flute piccolo , flute , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : two cornets à pistons , two horns , three trombones
- Timpani , triangle
- harp
- Strings (quartet)
Music numbers
The piano reduction of the opera contains the following musical numbers:
- Overture
- No. 1. Trio (tenor, tenor, bass): "Florine, belle Florine" (scene 1)
- No. 2. Air Bouffe (bass): "Quel aimable financier" (scene 2)
- No. 3. Air de Léonidas (bass): "Vous désirez savoir" (scene 2)
- No. 4. Morceau d'Ensemble (Ensemble): "Qu'il est doux" (scene 5)
- No. 5. Couplets de Pélagie (soprano): "Monsieur, ne vous déplaise" (scene 5)
- No. 6. Couplets de Colette (soprano): "Devant toi, nous plaidons la danse" (scene 6)
- No. 7. Septuor (septet): "Je n'ai rien vu" (scene 8)
- No. 8. Cavatine de Cyprien (tenor): "Ne demandez à la peinture" (missing in the printed libretto)
- No. 9. Scene de Jeu et Ensemble (Ensemble): "Tirons-lui notre révérence" (Scene 11)
- No. 10. Duo et Final (duet and final): "Source journée enchanteresse" (scene 12)
libretto
The careful characterization of the characters is particularly evident in the turning points of the libretto. These are prepared by inserted sentences and thus brought into logical contexts despite the improbabilities typical for this type of work. One example is the naivety with which Casimir accepts the food brought by the young men (and previously stolen) and accepts their explanation that they came from a faun , a Silvanus and a raven.
music
Colin-maillard's music is lively and fresh. It oscillates between popular songs, reminiscences of the 18th century and more sophisticated ensemble movements that extend to the septet. Everything was well versed by Verne, although some of the verses lack the rhythm that would allow the composer to add tension to them with pinpoint accuracy. A cheerful Cavatine Cypriens and some lovely couplets from Colette are particularly worth mentioning . Georges Bousquet found the piece "well cut in the musical context" and noted "graceful couplets and well-made ensemble pieces". All of this seemed to him “more than sufficient” to prove “that the new composer came from a good school and that he had everything to be successful on stage.” As examples he named “the trio at the beginning of the piece in which the situation was tailored very well by the musician; the aria by Baron de la Verdure, in which a melodic rococo twist creates a good comic effect; then, in addition to other pieces, a very well executed septet. "Hignard had" the advantage for his debut that not all beginning composers have, that he was well served by the authors of the libretto. "
Work history
Jules Verne was secretary of the Théâtre-Lyrique from 1852 to 1855 , which was then headed by Jules Seveste and, after his death in 1854, by Émile Perrin . According to Albert de Lasalle, Verne was involved in many of the works performed at the theater. The Verne researcher Volker Dehs doubts that. In any case, in April 1853, Colin-maillard was the first opera-comique to have Verne's name on the poster. Michel Carré , who was already working with Jules Barbier at the time, is named as co-author . Carré's participation was apparently limited to guiding Verne in working out the basic framework and reviewing the text after completion. The ink manuscript found and examined by Dehs in the old archives of the Opéra (Fonds Perrin) in poor condition comes from the sole hand of Verne. It contains some corrections by Jules Seveste and none by Michel Carré. In addition to his pencil corrections, Seveste also entered some drawings in the manuscript. The title page shows a self-portrait in the form of a faun's bust with the signature “A man who is never satisfied.” The composer of Colin-maillard was Aristide Hignard , who later wrote several other operas on texts by Verne.
The premiere took place on April 28, 1853 at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris. There were 39 performances in 1853 and 6 more performances the following year, which were well received by the public. The criticism was also benevolent. For example, Théophile Gautier wrote:
«[…] Ce poème, qui est frais et gracieux comme un paysage de Watteau, et qui est signé de deux écrivains de talent. M. A. Hignard a brodé sur ce canevas pompadour une musique très fine, très naïve et très colorée; son instrumentation est intéressante et sobre, ce qui n'est assurément pas un défaut par le temps qui court. »
“[…] This poem that is fresh and graceful like a landscape by Watteau and drawn by two talented authors. Mr. A. Hignard has woven very subtle, very naive and very colorful music around this pompadour framework; his instrumentation is skilfully executed, interesting and reserved, which is really not a mistake in these times. "
L.-W. Romand said on May 14, 1853 (p. 3) in Le Théatre that this "comic opera, which is so pretty, refreshing in its simplicity", won every performance, "all the more as it was played with perfect coordination, verve and a rousing happiness" will.
For a performance at the Nantes theater on November 28, 1853, Hignard made a complete copy of the score. Seveste had the final at the end of the season on May 28, 1854 within a potpourri of pieces of music of the season entitled Le Passé et l'avenir , with which he asked the Ministry of the Interior for a subsidy for his stage.
The work was then forgotten. The first new production in a production by Charlotte Loriot took place from March 27 to 29, 2013 at the Théâtre du Center Culturel Jacques Tati in Amiens with the ensembles Les Frivolités Parisiennes and Les Enfants de Monsieur Croche under the musical direction of Alexandra Cravero. There was also a performance on April 4th at the Fondation Singer-Polignac in Paris.
literature
- Volker Dehs : Un fragment you “Colin-Maillard”. In: Bulletin de la Société Jules Verne No. 192. August 2016, pp. 37-39.
Web links
- Le colin-maillard : sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Score manuscript. Digitized at Gallica
- Libretto (French). Michel Lévy frères, Paris 1853. Digitized from Google Books
- Vocal score. Alfred Ikelmer et Cie, Paris around 1853. Digitized in the Internet Archive
- Le Colin-Maillard (German: The blind cow game). Work information on j-verne.de
- Le Colin-Maillard. Information on the new production on the website of the Ensemble Les Frivolités Parisiennes (French)
Contemporary reviews
- Le Ménestrel - Musique et Théatres. May 1, 1853. Digitized at Gallica , p. 3.
- Le Nouvelliste. May 1, 1853. Digitized at Gallica , p. 1.
- Le journal pour rire. May 7, 1853. Digitized from Gallica , pp. 6-7.
Remarks
- ↑ Vocal range between soprano and mezzo-soprano named after Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre ("Madame Dugazon"), in the forms "mères Dugazons" (maternal dugazons) and "jeunes Dugazons" (young dugazons).
- ^ "[...] bien coupée sous le rapport musical [...]"
- ↑ "[...] de gracieux couplets et des morceaux d'ensemble bien faits [...]"
- ^ "[...] plus que suffisamment que le nouveau compositeur sort de bonne école, et qu'il a tout ce qu'il faut pour réussir à la scene. À l'appui de notre dire, nous citerons le trio du commencement de l'ouvrage, dont la situation a été très bien saisie par le musicien; l'air du baron de la Verdure, affectant un tour mélodique rococo d'un bon effet comique; puis, entre autres morceaux encore, un septuor fort bien conduit. "
- ↑ "[...] pour son début, l'avantage, que n'ont pas tous les compositeurs débutants, d'être bien servi par les auteurs du libretto [...]"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Robert Pourvoyeur: Les trois opéras-comiques de Jules Verne. Bulletin de la Société Jules-Verne 70. 2nd trimester 1984.
- ^ Georges Bousquet : L'Illustration. May 7, 1853.
- ^ Albert de Lasalle: Mémorial du Théâtre Lyrique. Paris 1877, p. 55 ( online at Gallica ).
- ↑ Volker Dehs : Jules Verne - A critical biography. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf / Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-538-07208-6 , p. 73.
- ↑ Olivier Dumas: Le Colin-maillard, ou le plaisir du librettiste. In: Bulletin de la Société Jules-Verne. No. 120, 4th trimester 1996.
- ↑ a b c d e Volker Dehs : Jules Verne - A critical biography. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf / Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-538-07208-6 , pp. 76-77.
- ↑ Albert Soubies: you Histoire Théâtre-Lyrique. Fischbacher, Paris 1899 ( online at Gallica ).
- ↑ La Presse. May 23, 1853. Digitized at Gallica , p. 2.
- ^ Bulletin de la Société Jules Verne. No. 183, August 2013, p. 2