![Jacques Offenbach by Nadar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Jacques_Offenbach_by_Nadar.jpg)
''Fantasio'' is an 1872
opéra comique
''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...
in 3 acts, 4 tableaux with music by
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...
. The French
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by
Paul de Musset
Paul Edme de Musset (7 November 1804 – 17 May 1880) was a French writer.
He was born in Paris, the elder brother of Alfred de Musset. Paul de Musset's career centred largely on the life and achievements of his more famous brother.
In 18 ...
was closely based on the 1834 play of the same name by his brother
Alfred de Musset
Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...
. The opera found little success in Offenbach's lifetime, was revived in the 1930s and performed in a critical edition in the 2000s.
Background
The Musset play was published in the
Revue des deux Mondes
The ''Revue des deux Mondes'' (, ''Review of the Two Worlds'') is a monthly French-language literary, cultural and current affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829.
According to its website, "it is today the place for debates a ...
in 1834 and first performed at the
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...
, Paris in 1866 where it was seen 30 times.
[Yon, Jean-Claude. ''Jacques Offenbach.'' Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 2000.] Two "new" works were scheduled for the Salle Favart (
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...
) in 1872 as it regained momentum after the
Franco-Prussian War and the
Commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
; ''Fantasio'' by Offenbach and ''
les Noces de Figaro'', Mozart's opera after Beaumarchais, which entered the Opéra Comique repertoire that February.
[Soubies A, Malherbe C. ''Histoire de l'opéra comique — La seconde salle Favart 1840–1887.'' Flammarion, Paris, 1893.]
The choice of ''Fantasio'' as an operatic subject was considered a bold one, as
Alfred de Musset
Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...
's comedy had not seen great success at the Comédie-Française as a play. Rehearsals for the opera had begun in early 1870, but the Franco-Prussian War and the aftermath of defeat had delayed production for two years. At first the distribution was intended to be
Capoul as a tenor Fantasio,
Couderc as the Prince, Potel as Marinoni, Gailhard as Spark, Mlle Dalti as Elsbeth and Moisset as the page. However, at the premiere, two years on, only Moisset and Potel remained in their roles;
Galli-Marié took over the title role, now a
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
, Ismaël took over as the Prince,
Melchissédec Marinoni, and
Marguerite Priola
Marguerite-Marie-Sophie Polliart or Poliart, generally known by her stage name Priola (1849–1876), was a French operatic soprano. She made her début on 6 April 1869 in Paris as The Messenger of Peace in the first French production of Wagner's ' ...
Elsbeth.
Since his early successes in Paris, Offenbach had been the target of many vicious attacks in the press, and these had intensified during the Franco-Prussian War. Even Bizet was reduced to attacking the "infernal Offenbach", who had ''Boule de neige'' and ''
Le roi Carotte
''Le roi Carotte'' (''King Carrot'') is a 4-act opéra- bouffe- féerie with music by Jacques Offenbach and libretto by Victorien Sardou, after E. T. A. Hoffmann. The libretto, written before the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, lampoone ...
'' premiered in the weeks prior to ''Fantasio''. With ''Fantasio'' the criticism of wanting to conquer the Opéra-Comique was added to previous attacks. Yon argues that Offenbach's sensitivity to criticism was also due to his identification with the title character of Fantasio – the bitter clown.
Offenbach was heartbroken when the opera was taken off and wrote a letter of complaint to the director of the Opéra-Comique,
Camille du Locle
Camille du Locle (16 July 18329 October 1903) was a French theatre manager and a librettist. He was born in Orange, France. From 1862 he served as assistant to his father-in-law, Émile Perrin, at the Paris Opéra. From 1870, he was co-director a ...
. He later re-used the chorus of students from the first act of ''Fantasio'' in ''
The Tales of Hoffmann
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died ...
'', where it becomes the student chorus at the end of that opera's first act, and the voice of Antonia's mother in act 3 of ''Hoffmann'' enters with a theme from the overture of ''Fantasio''.
[ Keck J.-C., "Guide d'Écoute" in: ''Avant-Scène Opéra 235, Les Contes d'Hoffmann.'' Paris, 2006.]
The work is dedicated to
Eduard Hanslick
Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the ''Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. H ...
.
Performance history
After its premiere at the Opéra-Comique (where it was only performed ten times before being dropped from the repertoire), ''Fantasio'' was produced at the
Theater an der Wien
The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...
on 21 February 1872, and also seen in Graz and Prague in October 1872, and Berlin in 1873. A revival in a new version was mounted in Magdeburg in June 1927 as '.
It was revived in October 2000 at the in a version reassembled by
Jean-Christophe Keck
Jean-Christophe Keck is a French musicologist and conductor, born in Briançon, in 1964. He is particularly noted as a specialist in the works of Jacques Offenbach, and is the director of the complete critical edition in progress, named after both ...
, conducted by
Claude Schnitzler
Claude Schnitzler (born in 1949) is a French organist and conductor.
Career
Born in Strasbourg, Schnitzler studied music at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg (organ, harpsichord, conducting, and writing) before completing his training as a cond ...
, in a production by Vincent Vittoz, and toured to
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
,
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
and
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...
. Martial Defontaine (tenor) was Fantasio and Iane Rouleau sang Elsbeth. The opera was also performed at the summer festival of Opernbühne
Bad Aibling
Bad Aibling () is a spa town and former district seat in Bavaria on the river Mangfall, located some southeast of Munich. It features a luxury health resort with a peat pulp bath and mineral spa.
History
Bad Aibling and its surroundings ...
in 2003, with Johann Winzer (tenor) as Fantasio and Uta Bodensohn as Elsbeth. A ''Suite Orchestrale'' from the opera was performed at the Opéra-Comique in December 2009.
''Fantasio'' was performed in concert by
Opera Rara
Opera Rara is a London-based opera company and recording label which specialises in recording and performing forgotten operatic repertoire from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1970 by bel canto enthusiasts Patric Schmid and Don Whi ...
with the
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera Artistic Associate at Kings Place, and h ...
conducted by
Sir Mark Elder
Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England.
Life and career
Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the ba ...
, at the
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...
, London on 15 December 2013, with
Sarah Connolly
Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly (born 13 June 1963) is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her Baroque music, baroque and Classical period (music), classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by ...
(Fantasio),
Brenda Rae
Brenda Rae is an American operatic soprano who has performed leading roles in opera houses internationally. She was a resident artist at the Frankfurt Opera from 2008 through 2017. She is a featured performer on the Naxos Records 2015 recording of ...
(Elsbeth), Victoria Simmonds (Flamel),
Russell Braun
Russell Braun (born 19 July 1965) is a Canadian operatic lyric baritone and Juno Award winner.
Much sought-after as a soloist and for opera roles, Russell Braun performs regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Lyric ...
(Le Prince), Neal Davies (Sparck) and Brindley Sherratt (Le Roi) and a recording with the same cast was published in 2014.
Keck argues that one reason for the neglect of ''Fantasio'' was that it has been difficult to locate a performing edition; only a
vocal score
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...
was published at the time of the premiere, along with a corrupt and
re-orchestrated German version. Keck's researches have assembled many difficult to access manuscripts for a projected
critical edition
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in da ...
(''Offenbach Edition Keck'' – OEK), leading to his claim that ''Fantasio'' is a rich and rounded masterpiece by the composer, and an important step towards his opera ''
The Tales of Hoffmann
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died ...
''.
A new production of ''Fantasio'' by the Opéra-Comique was presented at the
Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.
One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a s ...
, Paris, in February 2017 with
Marianne Crebassa
Marianne Crebassa (born 14 December 1986, in Béziers) is a French mezzo-soprano.
Life and career
Crebassa grew up in Agde, where her parents encouraged her interest in music, starting with piano and continuing when she was 14 with singing.Pines, ...
in the title role, with the intention of touring to Rouen, Montpellier and Zagreb. The production by the Orchestre National Montpellier was performed at the Opéra Comédie, Montpellier in December 2018 and January 2019 with the title role played by
Rihab Chaieb under the musical direction of Pierre Dumoussaud.
In an English version by Jeremy Sams, the work was seen at the 2019
Garsington
Garsington is a village and civil parish about southeast of Oxford in Oxfordshire. "A History of the County of Oxfordshire" provides a detailed history of the parish from 1082. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,689. The vi ...
festival, conducted by Justin Doyle, with
Hanna Hipp
Hanna Hipp is a Polish lyric mezzo-soprano.
Hipp trained at the Stanisław Moniuszko in Gdańsk, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio.
Hipp was a member of The Royal Opera's Jette Parker Young Artist Programm ...
as Fantasio and Jennifer France as Elsbeth.
Roles
Synopsis
Act 1
''A public square at dusk; palace gates and a terrace on one side, on the other a tavern and a tailor's shop''
Townspeople sing joyfully of the peace that will follow the imminent wedding of the prince of Mantua and the princess of Bavaria. Young people look forward to songs and dancing, and a group of prisoners released by the King celebrate. A group of impoverished students, Spark, Hartmann and Facio, enter hoping also to share in some fun while contemptuous of the townspeople. The King and his guards emerge from the palace. The King announces the arrival of the prince of Mantua to wed his daughter Elsbeth and encourages the celebration. A courtier explains that Elsbeth is grieving on the death of the court jester of whom she was fond. Marinoni, the prince of Mantua's aide-de-camp, enquires about the festivities and the princess, but is mocked by the students. Fantasio enters and sings a ballad to the moon. The page of Elsbeth enters to tell the students to keep their voices down as they will disturb the princess; they enter the tavern. Elsbeth sings of her wonder at the change in her life, but Fantasio enters unseen and asks her if she is really in love – with a complete stranger. Elsbeth, startled, leaves repeating Fantasio's words. When Spark joins his friend Fantasio talks extravagantly of his feelings. Soon the funeral cortege of court jester St Jean passes by and Fantasio has the idea to take the appearance of the jester to gain access to the princess, and he and Spark enter the nearby tailor's shop to get the costume. This will also help him avoid being arrested for his debts by the police. The fatuous prince of Mantua and his aide Marinoni enter, and the prince, wanting to discover the real thoughts and feelings of his future wife determines to dress as a servant to find out; he and Marinoni exit to exchange their clothes. The students come in singing and Fantasio re-appears dressed as the old jester. Two sentries mistakenly let him into the palace grounds and he looks forward to his adventure and to meeting Elsbeth again.
Act 2
''Palace gardens''
Elsbeth, her page and the ladies of the court are walking in the palace grounds. She does not want to talk about her future marriage but of the poor jester whom she so admired. She sends the others away but then discovers Fantasio who amuses her with his banter about the flowers; she is intrigued by the unknown jester. The king, the prince and Marinoni (disguised as each other) enter. Elsbeth is not impressed by the aide-de-camp's song. When she and Fantasio are alone he casts more doubt in her mind about going ahead with the liaison with the prince, and she longs for a reason to delay the union. The court enter and while Marinoni (as the prince) sings her a pompous song in praise of beauty Fantasio climbs a tree and with a stick lifts the wig from the head of the false prince. The marriage of the Mantuan prince is immediately compromised but Fantasio is taken away.
Act 3
''1st tableau – a prison''
Fantasio is delighted to have wrecked the wedding plans, but when Elsbeth visits him in his prison cell she says she must go ahead with the marriage to the prince of Mantua to avoid a diplomatic quarrel and help bring peace between the two kingdoms. Fantasio takes off all his disguise and sings his ballad from act 1. Hearing this romance she is moved, decides to help him elude the guards – who expect to see a hump-back jester, but not a young man – and gives him a key to the gardens.
''2nd tableau – the courtyard in front of the king's palace''
Back in his student clothes Fantasio calms his friends who were planning to get him out the palace prison and clamoring for revenge. Meanwhile the king and the prince are preparing to declare war. Fantasio challenges the prince of Mantua to a duel but the prince backs off, preferring to renounce marriage with Elsbeth and return to Mantua. Fantasio, whom the students have named "king of fools", pleads for peace, is pardoned by the king and Elsbeth names him prince for having avoided war. Fantasio offers her to return the key to the palace gardens she had given him, but she asks him to keep it.
Recording
Sarah Connolly
Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly (born 13 June 1963) is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her Baroque music, baroque and Classical period (music), classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by ...
(Fantasio),
Brenda Rae
Brenda Rae is an American operatic soprano who has performed leading roles in opera houses internationally. She was a resident artist at the Frankfurt Opera from 2008 through 2017. She is a featured performer on the Naxos Records 2015 recording of ...
(Elsbeth), Brindley Sherrat (The King of Bavaria),
Russell Braun
Russell Braun (born 19 July 1965) is a Canadian operatic lyric baritone and Juno Award winner.
Much sought-after as a soloist and for opera roles, Russell Braun performs regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Lyric ...
(The Prince of Mantua), Robert Murray (Marinoni), Victoria Simmonds (Flamel), Neal Davies (Spark).
Mark Elder
Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England.
Life and career
Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the ba ...
conducts the
Opera Rara
Opera Rara is a London-based opera company and recording label which specialises in recording and performing forgotten operatic repertoire from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1970 by bel canto enthusiasts Patric Schmid and Don Whi ...
Chorus and the
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera Artistic Associate at Kings Place, and h ...
. Recorded December 2013, released 2014. CD Opera Rara Cat:ORC351.
In 1959 Erato issued a recording of
Camille Maurane
Camille Maurane (November 29, 1911 – January 21, 2010), born Camille Moreau, was a French baryton-martin singer. His father was a music teacher and he started singing as a child in the Maîtrise Saint-Evode in Rouen. The sudden death of his moth ...
and
György Sebők
György Sebők (November 2, 1922 – November 14, 1999) was a Hungarian-born American pianist and professor at the Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, United States.
He was known worldwide as a soloist with major ...
performing the Ballade à la lune.
Worldcat page for Ballade à la lune - Jacques Offenbach - Camille Maurane : Erato
accessed 25 January 2020. More recently Anne Sophie von Otter and Marianne Crebassa
Marianne Crebassa (born 14 December 1986, in Béziers) is a French mezzo-soprano.
Life and career
Crebassa grew up in Agde, where her parents encouraged her interest in music, starting with piano and continuing when she was 14 with singing.Pines, ...
have also recorded this excerpt.
References
External links
*
Photograph of Offenbach's autograph of the "Ballade à la lune" from act 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fantasio
Operas by Jacques Offenbach
French-language operas
Operas
Opéras comiques
1872 operas
Opera world premieres at the Opéra-Comique
Operas based on plays
Music with dedications
Operas based on works by Alfred de Musset