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opérette 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 co ...

-bouffe'' with music by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

and a libretto by Philippe Gille, which was premiered at the Bouffes-Parisiens Salle Choiseul, on 16 May 1857.

Background

The work was the first collaboration between Philippe Gille and Offenbach, and the start of a friendship between them which endured until the death of the latter. It also marked the first appearance with Offenbach of the singer-actor Désiré, who went on to create many roles in the composer's works. ''Vent du soir'' was a success, and was revived in Paris and also performed in Brussels and Vienna. A production in Swedish was presented in 2003 in Stockholm by Teater travers,"Vådan av att bli kär i sin middag – Köttets lusta" (The perils of falling in love with dinner – meat lust)
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Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

'', 14 November 2003 , accessed 10 September 2014. and in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy in November 2016.

Roles

Synopsis

On an Oceanic island, Vent-du-soir receives a visit from a neighbouring chief Lapin-courageux. Both men get on very well, as they had eaten the other's wife. Vent-du-soir puts on a good spread for his guest. Atala, daughter of Vent-du-soir, meanwhile, has fallen in love with the ship-wrecked stranger Arthur, a hair-dresser of the rue Vivienne. As the day's hunt was fruitless, Vent-du-soir decides that he will have to sacrifice Arthur, but when they are at table, Lapin-courageux realizes that they have eaten his lost son, as he can hear the musical watch he gave his son ringing in his stomach. Luckily the diners learn that in fact they have been served a bear, in whose skin Arthur had been hiding. All ends happily and Atala and Arthur are able to marry.

Musical numbers

* Ouverture (representing a storm) * Couplets (Atala) "Petit bébé" * Couplets et duetto (Arthur, Atala) "Mon front n'a pas" * Trio (Atala, Arthur, Vent du soir) "Grands dieux!" * Trio (Atala, Lapin-courageux, Vent-du-soir) "Gloire aux Papas-Toutous" * Trio (Atala, Lapin-courageux, Vent-du-soir) and ''chanson nègre'' (Lapin-courageux) "Ô fête incomplète" * Duo, trio et quatuor (Vent-du-soir, Lapin-courageux; Atala, Arthur) "Ciel! Ciel! Ciel!" * Final (all) "Que mon sort est doux"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vent du soir Operas by Jacques Offenbach French-language operas Operas 1857 operas Fiction about cannibalism