'' Les bavards'' (English: ''The Chatterboxes'') 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 bouf ...

, or

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

, 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 '' ...

, with a French libretto by

Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter was a French librettist, translator, writer and librarian born in Paris, France, on 24 April 1828. He died there on 23 February 1899 after suffering a stroke a few days before.Cooper J: Nuitter, Charles-Louis-Étien ...

based on "Los dos habladores", a story by

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

.Lamb A. Jacques Offenbach (work list). In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.

Performance history

''Les bavards'' was originally created as ''Bavard et bavarde'' in one-act form and performed at the Kurtheater,

Bad Ems Bad Ems () is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a spa on the river Lahn. Bad Ems is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' (administrative community) Bad E ...

in June 1862. It became ''Die Schwätzerin von Saragossa'' for Vienna in November of that year, and was produced in its final two-act form at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(Salle Choiseul) on 20 February 1863, with Delphine Ugalde as Roland, Thompson as Inès, Tostée as Béatrix and Étienne Pradeau as Sarmiento, conducted by Offenbach. It entered the repertoire of the Paris

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 ...

on 3 May 1924 conducted by Maurice Frigara, produced by

Albert Carré Albert Carré (born Strasbourg 22 June 1852, died Paris 12 December 1938) was a French theatre director, opera director, actor and librettist. He was the nephew of librettist Michel Carré (1821–1872) and cousin of cinema director Michel Carré ( ...

, with Germaine Gallois as Roland and Marguerite Roger as Béatrix.Wolff S. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900-1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. It was recorded (as ''Pratkvarnen'') on Swedish television in 1981 with Britt Marie Aruhn and Enzo Florimo among the principals.Swedish Media Database (SMDB)
Accessed 4 August 2012 A critical edition has been published as part of the Offenbach Edition Keck (OEK), and the work is still occasionally performed.

Roles

Synopsis

:Time: 17th century :Place:

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

- in front of, and in the courtyard of Sarmiento’s house

Act 1

Roland, a penniless young poet, is trying to escape from his various creditors and succeeds in hiding from them; he finds himself outside Sarmiento's house.
He has fallen in love with Inès, the niece of Sarmiento, a wealthy man kept busy counting his money, who is wearied by his talkative wife Béatrix. Going out, Sarmiento meets his wife coming home, talking continuously, who launches into a song about her good character, then leaves again, still talking. Next the alcade Cristobal, also a chatterbox, passes by, sympathizing with Sarmiento's lot.
As Sarmiento returns to go back into his house, Roland comes out from his hiding place and decides to take advantage of the situation. He begins a long recitation of his woes and in the ensuing duet agrees to get Béatrix to stay quiet (hoping also to be in close proximity to his beloved Inès). Sarmiento asks him to come to dinner once he has found better clothes; as Roland's creditors appear again he rushes off dragging Sarmiento with him. The creditors go off to find Roland while Cristobal and Torribo doze off guarding the front door. Sarmiento and Roland, now finely dressed, return and enter the house.

Act 2

The scene opens with Béatrix bemoaning her lot. As she and Inès prepare to set the table Sarmiento enters with Roland and the young man is introduced to the women. Roland immediately starts talking non-stop and Béatrix is taken aback. Even when they sit down to eat Roland's babbling continues without a break. Sarmiento tells Béatrix, overcome by their guest's volubility, that Roland is to stay for seven years.
Under the guise of finally settling Sarmiento's dispute, Cristobal and Torribio are admitted and, after being given false information by Roland on ‘his’ whereabouts, depart with Sarmiento. To get Béatrix's approval for him to wed Inès, Roland reveals to Béatrix what he had agreed with her husband. To revenge herself on Sarmiento, she pretends in dumb-show that she has exchanged billets-doux with Roland. Sarmiento, bewildered by everyone behaving as if they are struck dumb and jealous because of the supposed love letters, is happy to learn that the real object of the exchange of letters is Inès.
The alcade and creditors arrive with a message from Roland promising that Sarmiento will pay off his debts. Sarmiento is forced to agree and gives his approval to the marriage. All celebrate the settlement of all their problems.

References

Notes

External links

Libretto
in French

libretto in French & English {{DEFAULTSORT:Bavards, Les Operas by Jacques Offenbach 1862 operas Opéras bouffes Operas set in Spain French-language operas Operas Adaptations of works by Miguel de Cervantes