''Madeleine'' is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in one act by

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is be ...

set 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 Grant Stewart, after the French

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

''Je dîne chez ma mère'' (I'm dining at my mother's house) by

Adrien Decourcelle Adrien Decourcelle (28 October 1821 – 6 August 1892) was a 19th-century French writer and playwright. Pierre-Henri-Adrien Decourcelle wrote about 70 plays between 1845 and 1855, comedies and Comédie en vaudeville written most of the time in ...

and

Lambert-Thiboust Lambert-Thiboust (25 October 1827 – 10 July 1867) was a 19th-century French playwright. Biography Lambert-Thiboust began his career as a comedian. He won a prize for tragedy at the Paris Conservatoire in 1848 and briefly pursued acting at th ...

. It premiered at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

in New York on 24 January 1914 with

Frances Alda Frances Davis Alda (31 May 1879 – 18 September 1952) was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic lyric soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique ...

in the title role.

Reception and performance history

For its world premiere on 24 January 1914, ''Madeleine'' was presented at the Metropolitan Opera as a double-bill with ''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who m ...

'' (with Caruso as Canio). It had a total of six performances at the Met, three times paired with ''Pagliacci'', twice with ''

Don Pasquale ''Don Pasquale'' () is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Pavesi's ...

'', and once (for its final performance) with the United States premiere of Wolf-Ferrari's ''

L'amore medico ''L'amore medico'' (''Doctor Cupid'', also known as ''The Love Doctor'') is an opera in two acts by composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. Based on Molière's comedy '' L'Amour médecin'', the work uses an Italian language libretto by Enrico Golisciani. ...

''. ''Madeleine'' was Herbert's second opera, but in contrast to many of his

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 ...

s and

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

s, it did not prove popular and dropped from sight after its premiere run. Although it received a warm reception from the first night audience, particularly Madeleine's aria, "A Perfect Day", the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' critic dismissed it as "not a notable landmark in the progress of native art."

Roles

Synopsis

The story is set in Paris around 1760. It recounts the chagrin of Madeleine Fleury, a brilliant

prima donna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pers ...

with the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

, who cannot persuade any of her admirers and lovers to dine with her on

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

. All of them have promised to dine with their mothers instead. Even her maid refuses for the same reason. Her childhood friend, Didier, a modest artist, invites her to dine with him and his parents, but in the end, she refuses and dines alone before a portrait of her mother painted by Didier.Synopsis based on the account in the ''New York Times'' (25 January 1914) p. 22.

Notes and references

Sources

*Herbert, Victor and Stewart, Grant
''Madeleine''
vocal score published by G. Schirmer, 1914. *Ledbetter, Steven, "Herbert, Victor ", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 31 October 2009)
(subscription access)
*

br>''Madeleine''
on the MetOpera Database *''

''
"Herbert's Opera 'Madeleine' Sung"
25 January 1914, p. 22. {{DEFAULTSORT:Madeleine Operas by Victor Herbert English-language operas 1914 operas Operas based on plays One-act operas Operas