![Paris 2 - Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens -1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Paris_2_-_Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_des_Bouffes-Parisiens_-1.JPG)
The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens () is a
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 ...
ian theatre founded in 1855 by the
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
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 '' ...
for the performance of
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 ...
and
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 ...
. The current theatre is located in the
2nd arrondissement at 4 rue Monsigny with an entrance at the back at 65 Passage Choiseul. In the 19th century the theatre was often referred to as the Salle Choiseul. With the decline in popularity of operetta after 1870, the theatre expanded its repertory to include comedies.
[Bouffes-Parisien website]
.[Lamb, Andrew. "Offenbach, Jacques" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, pp. 653–658.][Levin 2009, pp. 401–402.]
History
Salle Lacaze
![Bouffes parisiens (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Bouffes_parisiens_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In February 1855, Offenbach successfully requested a license from the Parisian authorities for the performance of what he described as a "new and original" genre of musical theatre. He justified his proposed endeavour by saying that these works would have mass appeal and would provide opportunities for young French composers.
[
The company gave its first performances during the summer of 1855 at the ]Salle Lacaze
Salle is the French word for 'hall', 'room' or 'auditorium', as in:
*Salle des Concerts Herz, a former Paris concert hall
*Salle Favart, theatre of the Paris Opéra-Comique
*Salle Le Peletier, former home of the Paris Opéra
*Salle Pleyel, a Pari ...
. This theatre was unusually small with a capacity of only 300 spectators, but was located on the Carré Marigny, near the crowds attending the Exposition Universelle. The inaugural performance was on 5 July with Offenbach conducting four of his own works: a prologue called ''Entrez, messieurs, mesdames'', a one-act ''pièce d'occasion'' written by Joseph Méry
Joseph Méry (21 January 179717 June 1866) was a French writer, journalist, novelist, poet, playwright and librettist.
Career
An ardent romanticist, he collaborated with Auguste Barthélemy in many of his satires and wrote a great number of st ...
and "Jules Servières" (a pen name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
of Ludovic Halévy
Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French author and playwright, best known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach.
Biography
Ludovic Halévy was born in P ...
, who worked as a government official and needed to protect his reputation); ''Une nuit blanche'', a one-act ''opéra-comique'' on a pastoral theme; ''Arlequin barbier'', a pantomime utilizing themes from Rossini's ''Il barbiere di Siviglia
''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...
'' arranged by "Alfred Lange" (Offenbach); and ''Les deux aveugles
''Les deux aveugles'' (, ''The Two Blind Men'' or ''The Blind Beggars'') is an 1855 one-act French ''bouffonerie musicale'' (operetta) by Jacques Offenbach.Lamb 1992, p. 1143. The libretto was written by Jules Moinaux and was a condensation of ...
'', a one-act ''bouffonerie musicale'' about two swindling "blind" Parisian beggars. The latter was almost cut, since the invited audience who attended the dress rehearsal failed to laugh, but Offenbach decided to retain it, and it was the hit of the opening night. This little piece soon acquired an international reputation (due to visitors from the Exposition), and Offenbach's admirers soon included Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
and Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
. Further performances in the summer of 1855 were primarily of satirical sketches which only included a few musical numbers. The season, however, was so successful that Offenbach was able to resign his position as conductor of the Théâtre Français.[
]
Salle Choiseul
In October Offenbach submitted another petition to the authorities, this time to merge his company with the Théâtre des Jeunes Élèves de Monsieur Comte (Théâtre Comte The Théâtre Comte, also called Théâtre des Jeunes-Élèves (the latter name revived from a previous theatre, on a different site, in the rue de Thionville, that had been closed down by Napoleon's decree of June 1807), was a Parisian entertainme ...
). This company's theatre, which was not much larger than the Salle Lacaze, was demolished, and the larger Salle Choiseul with a capacity of about 900 was constructed. The new theatre was not only larger, but warmer, more luxurious and more comfortable than the Salle Lacaze. The orchestra was enlarged from sixteen players to thirty. Offenbach's new license permitted performances of one-act comedies, with or without music, but with fewer than five characters. It also specifically excluded sketches and required the performance of at least two works by composers other than Offenbach. The first performance of the merged company was on 29 December 1855 at the Salle Choiseul and included the premiere of Offenbach's ''Ba-ta-clan
''Ba-ta-clan'' is a "chinoiserie musicale" (or operetta) in one act with music by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Paris, on 29 December 1855.Lamb ...
'', a one-act ''chinoiserie musicale'' with a libretto by Halévy. From this time performances were primarily given at the Salle Choiseul during the winter theatre season. The company performed at the Salle Lacaze during the 1856, 1857 and 1859 summer seasons, however, in March 1861 legislation was enacted which prevented the company from using both theatres, and appearances at the Salle Lacaze were discontinued. In spite of the restrictions of the license, Offenbach began including longer, more substantial works which violated its terms. For instance, his two-act ''Orphée aux enfers
''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act "opéra bouffon" at the Théâ ...
'' with a cast of 16 received its first performance at the Salle Choiseul on 21 October 1858. Even after Offenbach resigned as the director in January 1862, the company continued at the Salle Choiseul, performing light operas by other composers as well as Offenbach.[
Upon the departure of Offenbach, the new director tore down the existing hall to erect a larger one with a capacity of 1100 spectators.][
]
Legacy
While the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens is indelibly linked to Offenbach, it has also been the venue for a number of other important works. In addition to Offenbach's own operettas, the theatre has seen the premieres of musical works by Hervé
Hervé is a French language, French masculine given name of Breton language, Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinizati ...
, Emmanuel Chabrier
Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...
and Claude Terrasse and playwrights such as Robert de Flers
Robert Pellevé de La Motte-Ango, marquis de Flers (25 November 1872, Pont-l'Évêque, Calvados – 30 July 1927, Vittel) was a French playwright, opera librettist, and journalist.Pierre Barillet, ''Les Seigneurs du rire: Flers – Caillavet – ...
, Albert Willemetz
Albert Willemetz (14 February 1887 – 7 October 1964) was a French libretto, librettist.
Career
Albert Willemetz was a prolific lyricist. He invented a new type of musical, with a humorous and "sexy" style. He was the author of more than 3000 ...
, Sacha Guitry and Henri Bernstein
Henri-Léon-Gustave-Charles Bernstein (20 June 1876 – 27 November 1953) was a French playwright associated with Boulevard theatre.
Biography
Bernstein was born in Paris. His earliest plays, including ''La Rafale'' (1905), ''Le Voleur'' (1907), ...
.
From 1986 to 2007, the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens was under the directorship of Jean-Claude Brialy
Jean-Claude Brialy (30 March 1933 – 30 May 2007) was a French actor and film director.
Early life
Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), French Algeria, where his father was stationed with the French Army. Brialy moved to mainland ...
, who died of cancer in May 2007.
List of premieres
List of directors
The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens was founded as a private entrepreneurship.[Levin indicates that the company was a private entrepreneurship from its founding in 1855 up until 1885, which is the extent of her coverage of the topic. See Table 16.8. "Chronology and administration of the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens company" in Levin 2009, p. 399.]
References
;Notes
;Sources
* Dickens, Charles (1882). ''Dicken's Dictionary of Paris, 1882. An Unconventional Handbook''. London: Macmillan
View
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 ...
.
*Faris, Alexander (1980). ''Jacques Offenbach''. London & Boston: Faber and Faber. .
*Fauser, Annegret, editor; Everist, Mark, editor (2009). ''Music, theater, and cultural transfer. Paris, 1830–1914''. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. .
*Galignani, A. and W., publishers (1862). ''Galignani's New Paris Guide for 1862''. Paris: A. and W. Galignani
View
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 ...
.
*Gammond, Peter (1980). ''Offenbach''. London: Omnibus Press. .
*Gänzl, Kurt (2001). ''The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre'', second edition. New York: Schirmer Books. .
*Levin, Alicia (2009). "A documentary overview of musical theaters in Paris, 1830–1900" in Fauser 2009, pp. 379–402.
*Martin, Jules (1901). ''Nos Artistes: Annuaire des Théâtres et Concerts, 1901–1902''. Paris: Ollendorff
View
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 ...
.
*Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...
'' (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. .
*Wagstaff, John (1992). "''Véronique''" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp. 961–962.
*Yon, Jean-Claude (2000). ''Jacques Offenbach''. aris Aris or ARIS may refer to:
People
* Aris (surname)
Given name
* Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer
* Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player
* Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano
* Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter
* Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...
Galimard. .
External links
The Theatre's website
{{Coord, 48.8684, N, 2.3354, E, region:FR-75_type:landmark, display=title
Theatres in Paris
Opera houses in Paris
Buildings and structures in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris
Theatres completed in 1855
Music venues completed in 1855