Les p'tites Michu
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The little Michu's |
| Original title: | Les p'tites Michu |
Title page of the piano reduction, Paris 1897 |
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| Shape: | “Opérette” in three acts |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | André Messager |
| Libretto : | Albert-Guillaume-Florent Vanloo, Georges J. Duval |
| Premiere: | November 16, 1897 |
| Place of premiere: | Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens |
| Playing time: | about 2 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Paris around 1810 |
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Les p'tites Michu (German title: Die kleine Michu’s ) is an opéra-comique (original name: “Opérette”) in three acts by André Messager (music) with a libretto by Albert-Guillaume-Florent Vanloo and Georges J. Duval. The first performance took place on November 16, 1897 in the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in Paris.
action
prehistory
In 1793, during the French Revolution , the Marquis des Ifs is threatened with arrest. At the same time, his wife dies after giving birth to a little girl. Before he fled, the Marquis entrusted the child to the Michu couple, who had just had a daughter. M. Michu washes the babies together in the bathtub and then can no longer tell them apart. He no longer knows which of the girls is his own child and which is the daughter of the Marquis. Seventeen years later, the two - Marie-Blanche and Blanche-Marie - received their education in the boarding school of Mlle Herpin.
first act
Mlle Herpin boarding school
Scenes 1–5. Mlle Herpin educates her protégés with military drill (No. 1. Choir and couplets: “Le tambour résonne”). Even so, the girls decide to play something funny. The Michu daughters Marie-Blanche and Blanche-Marie are one heart and one soul (No. 2. Duet Blanche-Marie / Marie-Blanche: "Blanche-Marie et Marie-Blanche"). Blanche-Marie loses the next round in the Schinkenkloppen game ("Main Chaude"). Your job is to kiss the next man to enter. It's Gaston, a dashing hussar captain and nephew of the Mlle Herpin. He encourages the shy Blanche-Marie to kiss (No. 3. Madrigal Gaston: “Quoi, vous tremblez”). Then the other girls run outside to play tag. Only Gaston and the two sisters remain in the hall and introduce themselves to each other (No. 4. Trio Blanche-Marie / Marie-Blanche / Gaston: "Michu! Michu! Michu!"). Gaston says that because everything is usually shared between sisters, he should now kiss Marie-Blanche too. When he does so, Mlle Herpin enters and the girls run away.
Scenes 6–7. Gaston tells his aunt that he was promoted to captain after rescuing his general during a siege and being wounded in the process. The general has wanted him with him all the time ever since. Meanwhile, the sisters rave about the handsome soldier (No. 5. Couplets Marie-Blanche: "Sapristi! Le beau militaire"). Marie-Blanche in particular finds him much more interesting than Aristide, her parents' clerk, who also kept an eye on them.
Scenes 8–11. The parents Michu and Aristide bring the girls food into the boarding school (No. 6 Trio Mme Michu / Aristide / Michu: "Nous v'là! Nous v'là!"). Mme Michu keeps complaining about her useless husband, who leaves all the work to her. She thinks that she has the say in marriage (Couplets Mme Michu / Aristide / Michu: “A l'ouvrage le matin”). Mlle Herpin (literally) drums her charges to greet the newcomers. Everyone is happy about the souvenirs (No. 7. Ensemble: “Voici papa, maman Gâteau”). In the conversation, Aristide slips out that he would love to kiss the Michu sisters. Since he can no longer hide his feelings, he asks M. Michu for her hand. He leaves the father to choose which one it should be (No. 8. Couplets Aristide: "Blanche-Marie est douce"). The sisters, however, would like to be asked themselves, and M. Michu doesn't want to talk about this topic for a year. Aristide withdraws sadly.
Scenes 12-14. M. and Mme Michu talk about Aristide's proposal. The main problem for the two of them is that they don't know which of the girls is the Marquis' daughter. Fortunately, they never heard from him again. But then Mlle Herpin introduces them to the soldier Bagnolet, who has come on behalf of his general, the Marquis des Ifs, to pick up his daughter. When the two of them are looking for excuses, he orders them to personally present their statements to the general. Mme Michu calls Mlle Herpin and the girls over with a drum roll (No. 9. Finale: “Je viens d'entendre un roulement”) and explains to them that their daughters must come along. They are happy to be able to escape the pressure of boarding school.
Second act
House of the Général des Ifs
Scene 1-3. On the occasion of his homecoming, the general gives a festive reception (No. 10. Introduction and chorus: “À la santé du général”). He tells them about the costly siege of Zaragoza by his troops (Rondo General: “Non, je n'ai jamais vu ça”) and introduces them to his young lifesaver Gaston, whom he promised his daughter's hand as a reward.
Scene 4-8. The Michu family arrives and admires the magnificent salon. The two girls wait impatiently for an explanation from their parents. They are horrified when they hear that one of them is about to leave the family. When Bagnolet announces the general, the two girls have to hide quickly because their parents want to explain the situation to him first (No. 11th Quartet Blanche-Marie / Marie-Blanche / Mme Michu / Michu: “Entre là”). However, you cannot even give him an unequivocal answer to his questions about his daughter's appearance. He orders them to get the girl.
Scene 9-11. While her parents are gone, Blanche-Marie carefully slips out of her hiding place. The general informs her that his daughter is Irène and takes her in his arms. She faints from shock. The general goes out for a glass of water. In the meantime, Blanche-Marie hides again and Marie-Blanche leaves her hiding place. Since she is well, the general drinks the water himself on his return. He is only a little surprised about her changed appearance. When he calls her his daughter, Marie-Blanche also faints and he has to get another glass of water.
Scene 12-14. The two girls now know the secret of their origins. Although they are not real sisters, they still want to stick together (No. 12. Duet Blanche-Marie / Marie-Blanche: "Ah! Quel malheur!"). When the general returns, he is surprised to find two girls. Bagnolet calls in their parents to explain the situation. The general is appalled (No. 13. Couplets General: “Me prenez-vous pour un conscrit”). He gives the couple half an hour to identify his daughter and leaves the salon with Bagnolet. Since the parents do not want to lose any of the girls and they cannot separate from each other, the entire family decides to flee. Mme Michu is running home to get some money. M. Michu is supposed to organize a carriage in the meantime.
Scene 15-17. To calm things down, the girls say a prayer to Saint Nicholas , the patron saint of children (No. 15. Blanche-Marie / Marie-Blanche prayer: “Saint Nicolas”). Both hope that she will not be the one who has to leave home. Gaston informs them that he will marry the general's daughter, but has never seen her. The girls then describe their appearance and character to him as identical to their own (No. 15. Terzett Blanche-Marie / Marie-Blanche / Gaston: “C'est la fille du général”). Gaston makes his way to the general with enthusiasm. The girls continue their prayers - now they both hope to be the general's daughter. Marie-Blanche would be particularly unhappy if she couldn't marry Gaston. To reassure her, Blanche-Marie explains that she doesn't really love him.
Scene 18. When the parents return, the girls tell them that the escape is no longer necessary because Marie-Blanche wants to stay to marry the captain. Marie-Blanche rushes to the general and calls him her father. The general lets Gaston guess which of the girls is his daughter (No. 16. Finale: “Capitaine, approchez”). When the latter hesitates, he points to Marie-Blanche. Her sister sadly realizes that she now has to marry Aristide herself. The general introduces his daughter to the meeting. She gives a short speech in which she points out her many advantages (Couplets Marie-Blanche: “N'est-ce pas que j'ai de la branche”).
Third act
In Michus's shop
Scene 1-3. One week after Marie-Blanche moved out, Aristide and Michus serve the storming customers in their shop (No. 17. Choir and ensemble “À la boutique!”). Although Marie-Blanche uses every opportunity to visit, Mme Michu cannot get over her loss. The wedding is scheduled to take place today. Aristide is supposed to marry Blanche-Marie at the same time - but she only sighed and didn't even look at him in the past week.
Scene 4-6. Blanche-Marie appears in her wedding dress. Although she still seems absent, Aristide believes in her love. He thinks his future is secure (No. 18. Couplets Aristide: “Comme une girouette”). Now Marie-Blanche comes in too. She wears a large cloak over her own wedding dress. Aristide withdraws to get changed. When the girls are alone, they find out that Marie-Blanche doesn't feel particularly comfortable in the general's house, while Blanche-Marie doesn't like working in the shop (No. 19. Romance Blanche-Marie: “Vois-tu, je m 'en veux à moi-même ”). Neither are they particularly in love with their future husbands.
Scene 7–9. To the amazement of her parents, Marie-Blanche used to serve shop customers despite her impending wedding. The general and Gaston catch them doing this improper work.
Scene 10-16. M. Michu introduces his future son-in-law Aristide to Gaston and the general. Mlle Herpin and the boarding school students arrive and congratulate their former classmates on their wedding (No. 20. Choir: “Bonjour, mesdam's les mariées”). Other shopkeepers bring flowers ( Ronde des Halles: “On peut chercher en tous pays”). Blanche-Marie sends her sister out on an excuse to get an opportunity to talk to Gaston. The two recognize their feelings for each other (No. 21. Duet Blanche-Marie / Gaston: “Rassurez-vous”), and Blanche-Marie bursts into tears. The others rush to comfort her. Marie-Blanche, who is the only one who recognizes the reason, presents a solution: She has seen a portrait of the deceased Marquise in the general's house and does her hair, and is now applying make-up to Blanche-Marie exactly according to this model (No. 22. Sextet: “Assieds-toi là “). Because of Blanche-Marie's resemblance to the painting, the general states that she must be his real daughter. Blanche-Marie has to marry Gaston and Marie-Blanche the clerk. Everyone is happy with that (No. 23. Final Blanche-Marie / Marie-Blanche: “Blanche-Marie et Marie-Blanche”).
layout
libretto
In favoring characters from the lower classes, the work follows the tradition of Charles Lecocq's La fille de Madame Angot (1872), Jacques Offenbach's La fille du tambour-major (1879) or Hervé's Mam'zelle Nitouche (1883).
music
Les P'tites Michu was created during the transition from Messager's first stylistic period to his second. The style of his successor operetta Véronique , published only a few months later, was referred to as the "Belle Époque" style of the operetta repertoire. The music contains catchy rhythms and popular forms such as rondos , couplets or villanelles . The range of instruments is limited. Messager enhances this simple frame with imaginative harmonies and an elaborate orchestration. The melodies are simple but stylish. They are never clichéd and always reflect the respective emotional state of the characters. The composers Claude Debussy , Gabriel Fauré and Camille Saint-Saëns , who were friends with Messager and who generally held his work in high regard , showed particular preferences for Les p'tites Michu.
Although referred to as "Opérette", there was a discussion in contemporary reports about the correct assignment. Some authors compared it to works of the time-honored genre of Opéra-comique because of its high quality . This assessment has recently been adopted by Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater .
The waltz-like duet "Blanche-Marie et Marie-Blanche" (No. 2 in the first act) turned out to be the most popular piece of music in the work. The trio “Michu! Michu! Michu! ”, Gaston's madrigal“ Quoi, vous tremblez ”, Aristides Couplets“ Blanche-Marie est douce ”, the schoolgirls' choirs, the finale of the second act and Blanche-Marie's romance“ Vois-tu, je m'en veux à moi -même ”with the refrain“ Ah! sœurette, ma sœurette ”.
orchestra
The orchestral line-up includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes , oboe , two clarinets , bassoon
- Brass : two horns , two trumpets , trombone
- Timpani , percussion : bass drum , cymbals , triangle , drum
- Strings
Music numbers
The piano reduction published by Choudens in 1897 contains the following music numbers (German titles based on the version by Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers ):
first act
- Overture
- No. 1. Choir and couplets (boarding school students): “Le tambour résonne” - “Hear the drum roll” (scene 1)
- No. 2. Duet (Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche): "Blanche-Marie et Marie-Blanche" - "Anne-Marie and Marie-Anne" (scene 3)
- No. 3. Madrigal (Gaston): "Quoi, vous tremblez" - "Is it that bad?" (Scene 4)
- No. 4. Trio (Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche, Gaston): “Michu! Michu! Michu! ”-“ Michu! Michu! Michu! "(Scene 5)
- No. 5. Couplets (Marie-Blanche): “Sapristi! le beau militaire "-" Little sister, I have to confess to you "(scene 7)
- No. 6. Trio (Mme Michu, Aristide, Michu): “Nous v'là! Nous v'là! ”-“ Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! "(Scene 8)
- Couplets (Mme Michu, Aristide, Michu): "A l'ouvrage le matin" - "If the tower barely hits four in the morning" (scene 8)
- No. 7. Ensemble: "Voici papa, maman Gâteau" - "Ein Hoch, Papa, Mama Michu" (Scene 10)
- No. 8. Couplets (Aristide): "Blanche-Marie est douce" - "Marie-Anne, she unites youth and loveliness" (scene 11)
- No. 9. Finale: “Je viens d'entendre un roulement” - “I hear the sound of a drum” (scene 14)
Second act
- No. 10. Introduction and chorus: “À la santé du général” - “Bring a cheer to the general” (scene 1)
- Rondo (General): "Non, je n'ai jamais vu ça" - "There I tried my luck" (scene 1)
- No. 11. Quartet (Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche, Mme Michu, Michu): "Entre là" - "In there" (scene 6)
- No. 12. Duet (Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche): “Ah! Quel malheur! "-" O what pain! "(Scene 12)
- No. 13. Couplets (General): "Me prenez-vous pour un conscrit" - "Donnerwetter, Sapperment" (scene 13)
- No. 14. Prayer (Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche): "Saint Nicolas" - "Saint Nikola, the host of angels" (scene 15)
- No. 15. Trio (Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche, Gaston): "C'est la fille du général" - "It's the general's daughter!" (Scene 16)
- No. 16. Finale: "Capitaine, approchez" - "My Herr Major, step forward" (scene 20)
- Couplets (Marie-Blanche): "N'est-ce pas que j'ai de la branche" - "How happy I am" (scene 21)
Third act
- No. 17. Choir and ensemble “À la boutique!” - “Here in the shop, here in the shop” (scene 1)
- No. 18. Couplets (Aristide): "Comme une girouette" - "Like a weather vane" (scene 4)
- No. 19. Romance (Blanche-Marie): "Vois-tu, je m'en veux à moi-même" - "How were dreams once different" (scene 6)
- No. 20. Choir: “Bonjour, mesdam's les mariées” - “Good afternoon! We're finally here! "(Scene 11)
- Ronde des Halles (Marie-Blanche): "On peut chercher en tous pays" - "Love is a beautiful custom" (scene 11)
- No. 21. Duet (Blanche-Marie, Gaston): "Rassurez-vous" - "No, Mr. Gaston, it's over" (scene 12)
- No. 22. Sextet (Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche, Mme Michu, Michu, Aristide, Gaston): "Assieds-toi là" - "Take a seat here quickly!" (Scene 13)
- No. 23. Finale (Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche): "Blanche-Marie et Marie-Blanche" - "Anne-Marie and Marie-Anne" (scene 16)
Work history
After the failure of his Opéra-comique Le chevalier d'Harmental in 1896, André Messager was already thinking of retiring from the stage. However, his friends Albert-Guillaume-Florent Vanloo and Georges J. Duval were able to change his mind. It is from them that the libretto of his next work, Les p'tites Michu , comes from.
The first performance took place on November 16, 1897 under the direction of the composer and the direction of Michel-Amable Coudert at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in Paris. The singers were Alice Bonheur (Marie-Blanche), Odette Dulac (Blanche-Marie), Henri Marchand (Gaston), Vigouroux (Mme Michu), Paul Regnard (M. Michu), Barral (Général des Ifs), Maurice Lamy (Aristide ), Léonie Laporte (Mlle Herpin) and Brunais (Bagnolet).
With 150 performances, the production was a great success, which was also reflected in unusually extensive positive press reports. There were follow-up productions in the French provinces. In the following years the work was played a lot abroad:
- 1898: Rome
- 1898: Berlin, Metropol-Theater - German version with the title Die kleine Michu’s by Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers . The lyrics appeared as No. 74 in Ahn's opera text library.
- 1899: Brussels
- 1899: Vienna
- 1900: Reval (today Tallinn )
- 1901: Lisbon
- 1901: Prague
- 1904: Algiers
- 1905: London, Daly's Theater - more than 400 performances, English version entitled The Little Michus by Henry Hamilton and Percy Greenbank and some additional musical numbers such as "Miss Nobody from nowhere" (No. 13a in the second act); 1906–1908 shown by James Cassius Williamson's troops in Australia and New Zealand
- 1907: New York, Garden Theater - followed by tour of the United States
- 1908: Zurich
- 1909: resumed in Paris
In more recent times, the work has again attracted greater attention in 2018 through a production by Rémy Barché with the Compagnie Les Brigants under Pierre Dumoussaud. It was shown first at the Théâtre Graslin in Nantes and then in Paris and at the Opéra de Reims. A recording from Nantes was published by Edition Bru Zane in the form of an elaborate CD edition and made available as a video stream on the Internet by French television.
Recordings
- 1954 - Jules Gressier (conductor), Chœurs Raymond St. Paul.
Nadine Renaux (Marie-Blanche), Liliane Berton (Blanche-Marie), Camille Maurane (Gaston), Gisèle Desmoutiers (Mme Michu), Christian Duvaleix (M. Michu), Lucien Lovano (Général des Ifs), Claude Devos (Aristide) .
Cross section, studio shot.
EMI CZS 767 512-2 (2 CDs). - 23/24 May 2018 - Pierre Dumoussaud (conductor), Rémy Barché (staging), Salma Bordes (stage), Oria Steenkiste (costumes), Florent Jacob (lighting), Marianne Tricot (illustrations), Stéphane Bordonaro (video), Compagnie Les Brigands.
Violette Polchi (Marie-Blanche), Anne-Aurore Cochet (Blanche-Marie), Philippe Estèphe (Gaston), Marie Lenormand (Mme Michu), Damien Bigourdan (M. Michu), Boris Grappe (Général des Ifs), Artavazd Sargsyan ( Aristide), Caroline Meng (Mlle Herpin), Romain Dayez (Bagnolet).
CD and Video; live from the Théâtre Graslin in Nantes.
Edition Bru Zane (2 CDs); Video stream on france.tv .
Web links
- Les p'tites Michu : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Vocal score. Choudens, Paris 1897. Digitized in the Internet Archive
- The little Michu's. Song texts (German). Digitized from the Library of Congress
- P'tites Michu, Les (Vanloo & Duval / Messager). Digital media in the Bru Zane Mediabase
- Table of contents (English) and libretto (PDF, French / English, slightly abbreviated) in the Bru Zane Mediabase
- Video stream of the performance in Nantes 2018 on france.tv. Video available until March 17, 2020
Individual evidence
- ↑ Voices according to Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater, order as in the libretto.
- ↑ a b Alexandre Dratwicki: Les P'tites Michu, number by number ( PDF, online in the Bru Zane Mediabase).
- ↑ a b c d e f Christophe Mirambeau: The genesis of Les P'tites Michu ( PDF, online in the Bru Zane Mediabase).
- ↑ a b Étienne Jardin: Les P'tites Michu in the Parisian press ( PDF, online in the Bru Zane Mediabase).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Josef Heinzelmann : Les P'tites Michu. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 4: Works. Massine - Piccinni. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-492-02414-9 , pp. 98-99.
- ^ A b John Wagstaff: P'tites Michu, Les. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ November 16, 1897: "Michu". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ The little Michu's. Song texts (German). Digitized version of the Library of Congress , accessed October 28, 2019.
- ↑ Manuel Brug: "Les P'tits Michu" in Reims: The Palazetto Bru Zane Foundation once again proves its operetta talent with Messager's comical jewel. In: Die Welt , January 23, 2019, accessed on October 29, 2019.
- ↑ a b Video stream of the performance in Nantes 2018 on france.tv, accessed on October 28, 2019.
- ^ André Charles Prosper Messager. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings (= Zeno.org . Volume 20). Directmedia, Berlin 2005, p. 9983.