''Le domino noir'' (''The Black Domino'') is an ''

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 ...

'' by the French composer

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...

, first performed on 2 December 1837 by the

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 ...

at the Salle de la Bourse in Paris.Wild and Charlton (2005), p. 226. The libretto to the three-act piece is by Auber's usual collaborator,

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of ma ...

. It was one of Auber's most successful works, clocking up 1,207 performances by 1909. It received its UK premiere in 1838 and appeared in the USA the following year. Some of Auber's music has a Spanish flavour to reflect its setting. In 1869,

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

provided

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...

s to replace the spoken dialogue for a proposed production of ''Le domino noir'' by an Italian opera company visiting Russia. No performances are believed to have taken place, but four of Tchaikovsky's recitatives were included in Richard Bonynge's recording of the opera.

Performance history

There was a production of the opera by

Pierre Jourdan Pierre Jourdan (21 September 1932 – 16 August 2007) born Pierre Gendre in Cannes, was an actor and director. Honours * CableACE Awards, 1987 Filmography As director * 1968: ''Phèdre (film, 1968), Phèdre'' * 1972: ''Le Trouvère'' * 1972: '' ...

at the Théâtre Imperial at

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 c ...

in 1995. In 2007, the St. Petersburg Conservatory Theatre in Russia included Tchaikovsky's recitatives in its production.

Roles

Synopsis

:Time: c. 1780 :Place: Madrid The action concerns a young novice nun, Angèle de Olivarès. Enjoying her last freedom before taking final vows, Angèle slips out of the Ursuline convent along with her companion Brigitte to attend a ball in honour of the Queen of Spain's birthday. To conceal her identity, she wears a black half-mask (the "domino" of the title). A year previously, at the same ball, Angèle had met a young man, Horace de Masserena. Horace has fallen in love with her and returns to the ball in the hope of seeing her again. Instead he meets the unknown woman in the black mask and dances with her. Thinking to help Horace, his friend Count Juliano sets the clock back an hour causing Angèle to miss leaving at midnight, which would have allowed her to get back to the convent in time before the gates close. Angèle runs off and tries to take shelter for the night in a house she finds on the way. Unfortunately, it turns out to belong to Count Juliano who is holding a late-night party for his friends. Angèle persuades the housekeeper to disguise her as her niece from the country. She manages to fool everyone except, of course, Horace who recognises her from the ball a year ago. He does not tell anyone else but locks Angèle in a room where he hopes to keep her until she gives him an explanation. But Angèle is inadvertently freed by the housekeeper's lover, the drunken Gil Perez, who opens the door and runs off, having mistaken her for a demon in her mask and cloak. Angèle manages to slip undiscovered into the convent, where on the very same day she is to be installed as abbess. Shortly before the ceremony, a letter from the queen frees her from her vows, which allows her to marry Horace, and Ursule, her jealous rival for the office, to the chagrin of other nuns, is named the new abbess instead.

Scores and libretto

Piano-vocal scores * ''Le domino noir'' (piano-vocal score, in French). Paris: Benoit
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at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. (This copy has handwritten casts for numerous productions as well as illustrations.) * ''Le domino noir'' (piano-vocal score, in French). Paris: Brandus
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at Internet Archive
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at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

. * ''Le domino noir'' (piano-vocal score, edited by Arthur Sullivan and J. Pittman, in Italian and English, the latter by Charles L. Kenny). London: Boosey
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at Internet Archive. * ''Der schwarze Domino'' (piano-vocal score, in a German translation by Freiherr von Lichtenstein, as well as French). London and Mainz: Schott
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at Internet Archive. Libretto * ''Le domino noir'' (libretto in French, including spoken dialogue). ''Le magasin théatral''. Copie
1
an
2
at Internet Archive.

Recordings

*''Le domino noir''

Sumi Jo Sumi Jo, OSI (; ; born 22 November 1962) is a South Korean lyric coloratura soprano known for her Grammy award-winning interpretations of the bel canto repertoire. Life and career Early life and education Jo was born Jo Su-gyeong in Chang ...

, Bruce Ford, Isabelle Vernet, Jules Bastin, London Voices, English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by

Richard Bonynge Richard Alan Bonynge ( ) (born 29 September 1930) is an Australian conductor and pianist. He is the widower of Australian dramatic coloratura soprano Dame Joan Sutherland. Bonynge conducted virtually all of Sutherland's operatic performances ...

(Decca, 1995)

References

Notes Sources *Booklet to the Bonynge recording. *Holden, Amanda (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. *

Letellier, Robert Ignatius Robert Ignatius Letellier (born 1953, in Durban, South Africa) is a cultural historian and academic, specialising in the history of music, Romantic literature and the Bible. He teaches at the Maryvale Institute and the Institute of Continuing Educ ...

(2010). ''Opéra-Comique: A Sourcebook''. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. . *Wild, Nicole; Charlton, David (2005). ''Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762-1972''. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. .

External links

*
Libretto of ''Le domino noir''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Domino noir, Le Operas Opéras comiques French-language operas Operas by Daniel Auber 1837 operas Opera world premieres at the Opéra-Comique Operas set in Spain Libretti by Eugène Scribe