''Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança'' is a one-act 'tableau grotesque' or 'grotesque scene' with music by

Hervé Hervé is a French language, French masculine given name of Breton language, Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinizat ...

after

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his no ...

, Traubner, Richard. ''Operetta — a theatrical history.'' Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1983. first produced in 1847, which has been dubbed ‘the first French operetta’, and a precursor of the

opéra bouffe ''Opéra bouffe'' (, plural: ''opéras bouffes'') is a genre of mid- to late 19th-century French operetta, closely associated with Jacques Offenbach, who produced many of them at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, inspiring the genre's name. It ...

. ''Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança'' was conceived as a vehicle for Desiré, a friend of Hervé, who had requested a piece for a benefit performance. Desiré, short and plump as Sancho, was pitted against the tall and thin Quichotte of Hervé. The piece was staged the following year on 6 March 1848 at

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...

's Opéra-National at the Cirque Olympique (with Hervé again playing Quichotte, and Joseph Kelm as Sancho), in a double-bill with ''Les barricades de 1848''.

Walsh TJ Thomas Joseph Walsh (20 November 1911 – 8 November 1988) was an Irish doctor, writer, and founder and director of the Wexford Opera Festival.Boydell, B.: "Walsh, T(homas) J(oseph)", in ''New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' (London and New York: Mac ...

. ''Second Empire Opera – The Théâtre-Lyrique Paris 1851-1870.'' John Calder Ltd, London, 1981. Hervé recalled that the success of his piece led to the tunes becoming very popular in the vaudevilles of Paris and hummed all around the city. The most popular couplet was:Quoted on page 40 of ''Gazette Anecdotique, Littéraire, Artistique et Bibliographique. 6ème année, Tome II.'' G. d’Heylli, Paris, 1881. :Je sais que les filles :Sont vraiment gentilles :Et que tous les drilles :En sont amoureux. :Mais sous l'aubépine, :La corde argentine :De ma mandoline :Sait me rendre heureux; :Oui, ma guitarine :Sait me rendre heureux.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Don Quichotte Et Sancho Panca French-language operas Operas Operas based on Don Quixote One-act operas 1848 operas