''Fisch-Ton-Kan'' is an

opéra bouffe Opéra bouffe (, plural: ''opéras bouffes'') is a genre of 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. Opéras bouff ...

in one act by Emmanuel Chabrier of which only some numbers survive. The French libretto was by

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the '' fin de siècle'' in international and ...

, and probably Lucien Viotti, after the 'parade chinoise' ''Fich-Tong-Khan ou L'orphelin de le Tartarie'' of 1835 by Thomas Sauvage (1794-1877) and Gabriel de Lurieu (1792-1869). The title is tongue-in-cheek, as ''Fisch-Ton-Kan'' is a phonetic rendition of French ''fiche ton camp'', which may be translated as "clear off!".

Background

Plaque Emmanuel Chabrier, 7 rue Cambacérès, Paris 8

Composed around 1864, when Verlaine and Chabrier, working as a civil servant, had become good friends, only five complete numbers survive from this early comic work. Many of the situations recur in Chabrier's opéra bouffe of 1877, '' L'étoile'': Goulgouly becomes Laoula, Fisch-Ton-Kan turns into Lazuli and Kakao is a precursor of Ouf Ier. The 'Air de Poussah' was re-used by Chabrier in his ''Ronde Champêtre'', a piano work of 1880. Manuscripts of ''Fisch-Ton-Kan'' in the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

include an early version of the 'Couplets du Pal' from ''L'étoile''. ''Le Sire de Fisch-Ton-Kan'' was a satirical 'chanson' (music by Antonin Louis, words by

Paul Burani Paul Burani (born Urbain Roucoux; Paris, 26 March 1845 – Paris, 9 October 1901), was a French author, actor, songwriter and librettist. He had a short career as an actor at the Théâtre de Belleville and in the French provinces, after which he ...

) which became very popular in Paris after the fall of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and mocked the ex-emperor, his family and court.

Performance history

''Fisch-Ton-Kan'' (with the title ''Peh-Li-Khan''According to Roger Delage, this was to avoid confusion with the satirical song mentioned above.) was first performed with Chabrier at the piano on 31 March 1875 at the 'Cercle de l'Union artistique' in Paris, where an earlier operétte bouffe to which Chabrier contributed, ''Le service obligatoire'' (now lost), had been mounted in December 1872. The next performance was on 22 April 1941 at the Salle du

Conservatoire A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

, Paris with Francis Poulenc accompanying at the piano. An orchestration for strings and wind quartet (1974) was made by Roger Delage, and broadcast that year on French radio.

Roles

Synopsis

''from the original play''
From a balcony of the palace, Goulgouly takes a fancy to a young man below: Fisch-Ton-Kan. When each declares their love, he reveals to her that he is a Tartar prince exiled when he was 17 months old for having insulted Kakao, his father's enemy. Kakao orders all foreigners to cut off their right ear and leave it at the customs. When Kakao arrives on his palanquin he asks that boiling water be poured into a giant tea-pot in which Fisch-Ton-Kan is hiding, but Goulgouly manages to stop him. Kakao wants Goulgouly for himself. When Fisch-Ton-Kan intervenes, Kakao condemns him to be impaled but the young man escapes this fate by proving capable of removing the beetle Kakao is convinced he has on his nose. Offering Fisch-Ton-Kan anything to do this, he naturally chooses the hand of Goulgouly.

Recordings

* Christian Mehn (tenor), Francis Dudziak (baritone), Jean-Louis Georgel (baritone), Mireille Delunsch (soprano). Strasbourg Collegium Musicum Orchestra conducted by Roger Delage. Arion. Two numbers from Fisch-Ton-Kan were recorded in 2015 by counter-tenor

Philippe Jaroussky Philippe Jaroussky (born 13 February 1978) is a French countertenor. He began his musical career with the violin, winning an award at the Versailles conservatory, and then took up the piano before turning to singing. Unusually for a countertenor ...

as part of an extended recital of "Mélodies françaises sur des poèmes de Verlaine".

References