''Le lazzarone, ou Le bien vient en dormant'' (''The Lad from Naples, or Good comes from Sleeping)'' is an

opéra This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

in two acts with music by Fromental Halévy to a

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 Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. It was premiered on 29 March 1844 at the Paris Opéra. At the instruction of

Léon Pillet Léon Pillet (6 December 1803 – 20 March 1868),Huebner 1992. was a 19th-century French journalist, civil servant, and director of the Paris Opera from 1840 to 1847. A political appointee, he was probably the least successful director of the Paris ...

, the director of the Opéra, the opera was written as a vehicle for his mistress Rosine Stoltz (who had recently borne him a child). After some severe critical reactions, the opera was not successful and has not been revived.

Performance history

The inappropriate casting of a far-from-splendid 31-year-old portraying a Neapolitan teenager was not appreciated by the Parisian critics. A review in the ''

Revue et gazette musicale The ' was a weekly musical review founded in 1827 by the Belgian musicologist, teacher and composer François-Joseph Fétis, then working as professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire de Paris. It was the first French-language ...

'' sardonically regretted the Opéra's 'dearth of

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

s', and noted that the composer was 'forced to do without a timbre of voice so essential to an opera.'

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

wrote that 'the

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

is too grandiose, too pompous, too loud and even too slow for this kind of story.' At the premiere, Stoltz particularly annoyed her rival

Julie Dorus-Gras Julie Dorus-Gras (born Valenciennes 7 September 1805 – 6 February 1896) was a Belgian operatic soprano. Early life and training She was born Julie-Aimée-Josèphe Van Steenkiste,Forbes, Elizabeth. "Dorus-Gras (née Van Steenkiste), Julie( ...

by conspicuously eating

macaroni Macaroni (, Italian: maccheroni) is dry pasta shaped like narrow tubes.Oxford DictionaryMacaroni/ref> Made with durum wheat, macaroni is commonly cut in short lengths; curved macaroni may be referred to as elbow macaroni. Some home machines ...

onstage during the latter's aria. The opera also marked the Paris debut of

Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig ...

as an '

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

n dancer'. This however proved a disaster; Montez, losing a shoe during one routine, flung it into the boxes. Théophile Gautier wrote 'Mlle. Montez ..has small feet and shapely legs. Her use of these is quite another matter'.

Roles

Synopsis

:Place: Naples :Time: The lazy Beppo is enamoured of the flower seller Baptista. Mirobolante and Corvo, discovering Baptista's birth certificate, find that she is unaware that she is an heiress to a fortune. They woo her assiduously; Beppo, feeling he has no chance against such wealthy suitors, goes to sleep. Baptista however wakes him and says she much prefers him to the other two. Mirobolante and Corvo try to prevent their marriage by asserting that Baptista is a minor; her birth certificate however shows that she is 21 that very day.Jordan (1994), p. 121

References

Notes Sources
Libretto
at Gallica website * Jordan, Ruth (1994). ''Fromental Halévy'', London: Kahn and Averill. * Walker, Alan (1988). ''Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years 1811–1847'' (revised edition). London: Faber and Faber. {{Authority control Operas 1844 operas Operas by Fromental Halévy Operas set in Naples French-language operas Opéras comiques