''Jaguarita l'Indienne'' is a three-act

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 Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...

, to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Adolphe de Leuven, with music by

Fromental Halévy Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (; 27 May 179917 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera ''La Juive''. Early career Halévy was born in Paris, son of the cantor ...

. The opera is somewhat satiric in its intentions, but the plot element of the love of an exotic queen for a European is also found in Meyerbeer's later opera ''

L'Africaine ''L'Africaine'' (''The African Woman'') is an 1837 five-act French ''grand opéra'' by Giacomo Meyerbeer, with a libretto by Eugène Scribe. By 1852, the plot had been revised to depict fictional events in the life of Portuguese explorer Vasco da ...

''. An English version of the libretto, (moving the action to North America and substituting Oanita for Jaguarita) was set by Wallace in 1863 and produced at

Covent Garden Theatre The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, under the title '' The Desert Flower''.

Performance history

The opera was premiered on 14 May 1855 at the Théâtre-Lyrique,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, with the soprano Marie Cabel in the title role, whose performance in the part was much admired by

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

in a contemporary review. The opera was also chosen as the opening performance of the rebuilt Théâtre

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1856.

Synopsis

:Time: 1772 :Place: Dutch Guyana Jaguarita is the queen of a native tribe, but has been taken prisoner by the Dutch. With her henchman, Jumbo, she drugs her guard Maurice whom she kidnaps as part of her escape. Falling in love with Maurice, Jaguarita gets her tribesmen drunk and successfully subverts their attack on the Dutch settlement.

References

Sources *Jordan, Ruth, ''Fromental Halévy'', London, 1994 {{Authority control Operas by Fromental Halévy Operas French-language operas Opéras comiques 1855 operas Operas set in South America