''Ô mon bel inconnu'' is a comédie musicale in three acts (four tableaux) composed by

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas b ...

with a libretto by

Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follow ...

. It was first staged at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1933.O'Connor, Patrick. Reynaldo Hahn. '' The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Macmillan Reference Limited London, 1997, Vol.2 p595. The plot concerns the wife, daughter and maid of a Parisian hatter, who all reply to his 'lonely heart' advert, and takes place in Paris and

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

Background

This is Hahn's second stage work with Guitry after ''

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

'' in 1925, but this time "a modern dress musical comedy". Traubner notes that it was "too refined and slight for a public that was slowly nurturing a taste for thumping spectaculars". Grove opines that the work contains "Hahn's most infectious tune, the title song" for the three main female voices. There is around an hour's worth of music, and the vocal score was published by Salabert in 1933. Henry Malherbe, in a review in ''

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has b ...

'' highlighted the overture (which quotes the second finale), two airs for the men in the first act - recalling ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...

'' and the '' Wedding March'', the (title) waltz song for the women, the 'Téléphonage' in strict counterpoint, concluding that Hahn fulfils all the listener's expectations.

Principal roles

Synopsis

Prosper Aubertin, the owner of a hat shop in Paris, bored with his business and the quarrels and frustrations of home life, places a personal ad in a paper stating « Monsieur, célibataire, désire trouver âme sœur. » (Single gentleman seeks soul-mate). Of the many replies he chooses one signed by a countess and arranges a rendez-vous with her at the Louvre; but he is indignant to find the hand-writing of his wife Antoinette, and that of his daughter among other replies, both confessing to unhappiness in their lives. They have also lost interest in the suitors among the shop customers: Jean-Paul for Antoinette, Claude Aviland for Marie-Anne. On reflection, seeing that they too are looking for escape he writes back and makes appointments with them too. Each of the women (Félicie being the unknown countess) hum "Ô mon bel inconnu" on the way to their rendez-vous. In fact the final rendez-vous is a distance away: a villa owned by a M. Victor in the basque region rented for a week by Aubertin. Victor is mistaken for the inconnu by the Madame Aubertin and Marie-Anne. All is sorted out in the end, and even Hilarion Lallumette, a mute friend of Aubertin and confidant of the women regains his voice. The Aubertins get back together, Prosper persuades Marie-Anne that the man with whom she was exchanging letters was Claude (who has arrived to ask for her hand), and Victor pairs off with Félicie.

Recordings

Around 20 songs were recorded on 78s at the time of the first run with several of the role creators, and with Hahn himself joining Arletty for the Act 2 couplets "A la chalcographie"; the title song was recorded with Simone Simon, Marthe Coiffier and

Germaine Cernay Germaine Cernay, born Germaine Pointu (28 April 1900, Le Havre – 19 September 1943, Paris) was a French mezzo-soprano who was active both in the opera house and on the concert platform.Kutsch KJ, Riemens L. ''Unvergängliche Stimmen: Sängerlexi ...

. A 1971 radio broadcast featuring Aimé Doniat, Michel Hamel,

Lina Dachary Lina Dachary was a French soprano born in 1922 and died in 1999. She was particularly noted for her prolific radio appearances in operetta.

and Christiane Château was later issued on CD by Gaîté Lyrique, and a complete studio recording was issued in 2021.Another “First” Recording of Reynaldo Hahn’s 1933 “Ô Mon Bel Inconnu”, John Groves. Operetta Research Center, 4 March 2021
accessed 30 October 2023.

Notes and references

External links

{{Authority control Operas by Reynaldo Hahn French-language operas Opérettes 1933 operas Operas Operas set in Paris