''Le 66'' is an opérette in one act of 1856 with music 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 ' ...

. The French libretto was by Auguste Pittaud de Forges and Laurencin ( Paul Aimé Chapelle). Lamb A., "Jacques Offenbach (List of stage works)" in: ''

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 ...

''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Kurt Gänzl describes the work as "in the rustic vein of '' Le violoneux'' and '' Le mariage aux lanternes''". Gänzl K., "''Le 66''" in: ''The Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre.'' Blackwell, Oxford, 1994.

Performance history

The premiere was at the

Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens () is a Parisian theatre founded in 1855 by the composer Jacques Offenbach for the performance of opéra bouffe and operetta. The current theatre is located in the 2nd arrondissement at 4 rue Monsigny with a ...

(Salle Lacaze) Paris, on 31 July 1856, one of nine one-acters produced by the Bouffes Parisiens that year. ''Le 66'' remained in the Bouffes Parisiens répertoire, and was played by them in Vienna in 1862. It had already been seen at the

Carltheater The Carltheater was a theatre in Vienna. It was in the suburbs in Leopoldstadt at Praterstraße 31 (at that time called Jägerzeile). It was the successor to the Leopoldstädter Theater. After a series of financial difficulties, that theater had ...

in that city in 1859, was produced in Budapest in 1860, and mounted in London in 1865 and 1876. It was revived in Paris in 1984 at the Studio Bertrand alongside '' Pépito''. Contemporary critics particularly admired in the score the romance and tyrolienne and the entry song of the colporteur. In 2019, ''Le 66'' was performed in a triple bill (with Samuel Barber's '' A Hand of Bridge'' and Peter Reynolds' '' Sands of Time'') at the

Grimeborn Grimeborn is an annual East London musical theatre and opera festival which coincides with the world famous East Sussex Glyndebourne Opera Festival. Founded by Arcola Theatre’s artistic director Mehmet Ergen in 2007, the festival is held ...

Festival, Dalston, London.

Roles

Synopsis

En route for Strasbourg two starving travellers reach the outskirts of Stuttgart. Grittly has learnt that her sister is in great distress and set off to see her; Frantz has gone with her. On meeting a pedlar on the road Frantz wins 100,000 florins in a lottery with the ticket 66. He borrows money from the pedlar and goes off to the town on a spending spree, returning in expensive grotesque clothes. Grittly and he argue – and then discover that the ticket is actually 99. However, the pedlar turns out to be a rich long-lost relation (and husband of Grittly's sister) who wanted to give Frantz a lesson in the dangers of extravagance.. ''Jacques Offenbach.'' Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 2000.

Musical numbers

* Introduction with offstage duo * Romance « En apprenant cette détresse » and Tyrolienne « Dans mon Tyrol » * Air « Voilà le colporteur » * Trio « Et maintenant lisez-nous ça » * Couplets « C’était la compagne fidèle » * Couplets « Cocasse ? moi » * Trio « O ciel ! ô ciel ! » * Final « Ah ! quel bonheur »

References

External links

Original livret de censure of July 1856, accessed 27 July 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:66 Operas by Jacques Offenbach French-language operas Opérettes One-act operas 1856 operas Operas Operas set in Germany