''L'étoile'' is an

opéra bouffe ''Opéra bouffe'' (, plural: ''opéras bouffes'') is a genre of mid- to 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. It ...

in three acts by Emmanuel Chabrier with a libretto by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo. Chabrier met his librettists at the home of a mutual friend, the painter Gaston Hirsh, in 1875. Chabrier played to them early versions of the romance "O petite étoile" and the ensemble "Le pal, est de tous les supplices..." (with words by

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which Leterrier and Vanloo found too bold and toned down). They agreed to collaborate and Chabrier set about composition with enthusiasm. The story echoes some of the characters and situations of Chabrier's one-act comic opera '' Fisch-Ton-Kan'', which premiered in 1875.

Performance history

''L'étoile'' premiered on 28 November 1877 at Offenbach's Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens. In its initial run the members of the small orchestra were appalled at the difficulty of Chabrier’s score, which was much more sophisticated than anything Offenbach wrote for the small boulevard theatre. The opera was first performed outside France in Berlin on 4 October 1878, then in Budapest on 23 November 1878. In

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in 1890 at the

Broadway Theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

, an English adaptation by J. Cheever Goodwin was titled '' The Merry Monarch'', with new music by Woolson Morse. Chabrier's music fared no better in London in 1899, where the score was rewritten by

Ivan Caryll Félix Marie Henri Tilkin (12 May 1861 – 29 November 1921), better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian-born composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language, who made his career in London and later N ...

for an adaptation at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...

called '' The Lucky Star''. In

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in 1909, Chabrier's music was restored, and there was a performance at the Arts Décoratifs Exposition in Paris in 1925, conducted by Albert Wolff. The operetta's first major revival was on 10 April 1941 at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

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under Nazi occupation, with Fanély Revoil, René Hérent, Lillie Grandval, and André Balbon in the cast, at which time highlights were recorded, conducted by

Roger Désormière Roger Désormière () (13 September 1898 – 25 October 1963) was a French conducting, conductor. He was an enthusiastic champion of contemporary composers, but also conducted performances of early eighteenth century French music. Life and career ...

; this production was revived in December 1946 with Revoil and Payen. New productions were mounted at the Opéra-Comique in October 1984 with Colette Alliot-Lugaz and Michel Sénéchal in leading roles, and in December 2007 with Jean-Luc Viala and Stéphanie d’Oustrac. The first complete recording, by EMI in 1985, conducted by

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...

, followed a production at the Opéra National de Lyon the previous year starring Alliot-Lugaz, which was also filmed for television by FR3 in November 1985 and broadcast in 1986. ''L'étoile'' has been performed with increasing frequency and more widely in the 21st century, with productions at Opera North in 1991, Glimmerglass and Maastricht in 2001,

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

in 2003 (revived in March 2010), Toronto in 2005, Montreal and Cincinnati in 2006, Zurich in 2007 and Geneva in 2009. In 2010 it was presented at the Austin Lyric Opera, Texas, the

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(conducted by

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) and Theater Bielefeld. A production by David Alden was mounted in repertory at Frankfurt Opera in 2010 and 2011. New Sussex Opera staged an English-language in 2013, touring production in Sussex and London as ''Lucky Star'', conducted by Nicholas Jenkins. The opera was part of the

Dutch National Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...

's 2014/15 season in October 2014, and a 2019 DVD/blu-ray of this Laurent Pelly production with d'Oustrac, conducted by Patrick Fournillier, was awarded a

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(London) gave several performances in early 2016, the first at that house.

Roles

Source: Delage

Synopsis

Act 1

King Ouf 1^er roams his city in disguise, searching for a suitable subject to execute as a birthday treat. Hérisson de Porc-Epic, an ambassador, arrives with his wife Aloès, accompanied by his secretary Tapioca and Laoula, the daughter of a neighboring monarch. They are traveling incognito, and the princess is being passed off as Hérisson's wife. Their mission, of which Laoula is unaware, is to marry her to Ouf. Complications arise when Laoula and a poor peddler, Lazuli, fall in love at first sight. When he is scolded for flirting, Lazuli insults the disguised king and thus becomes a candidate for death by impalement. But Siroco, the king's astrologer, reveals that the fates of the king and the peddler are inextricably linked: the stars predict that they will die within 24 hours of each other. Lazuli is then escorted with honors into the palace.

Act 2

Lazuli, now feted and well fed, grows bored with luxury and longs for Laoula. Ouf, still unaware of the disguises, furthers the lovers' hopes of marriage by imprisoning Hérisson. The lovers depart. Hérisson escapes and orders the peddler shot. Gunfire is heard and Laoula is brought in, but there is no sign of Lazuli. Ouf bemoans his impending death.

Act 3

Lazuli has suffered no harm. After overhearing Ouf, Siroco, and Hérisson discussing the situation, he reveals himself to Laoula. They make plans to elope. The king and Siroco try to raise their spirits with a large glass of green chartreuse. Ouf, desperate to produce an heir to the throne before he dies, plans to marry Laoula, even if for an hour, but finds that he has run out of time. When the clocks strike five and nothing happens to him, Ouf declares that the astrologer's predictions must have been wrong. The Chief of Police then appears with Lazuli, who was caught trying to flee the kingdom. Ouf blesses Lazuli and Laoula's marriage. In a general final chorus Lazuli and Laoula address the audience in a reprise of act 1 finale.

Video recordings

(conductor), Orchestre et Chœurs de L'

Opéra de Lyon The Opéra de Lyon (also known as Opéra Nouvel, formerly Grand Théâtre) in Lyon, France, is the home of the Opéra National de Lyon. The original opera house was re-designed by the distinguished French architect, Jean Nouvel between 1985 and 19 ...

; with Colette Alliot-Lugaz (Lazuli), Jules Bastin, Franois Le Roux, Bernard Maigrot, Elizabeth Vidal, Michel Fockenoy, Albert Vanloo, Antoine David, Isabelle Eschenbrenner, Ghyslaine Raphanel, Magali Damonte, Isabelle Mament, Georges Gautier, Ren Schirrer, Eugne Leterrier;

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

1986 DVD. * Patrick Fournillier (conductor), Laurent Pelly (stage director and costume designer), Hague Residentie Orchestra, Dutch National Opera Chorus, with Stéphanie d’Oustrac (Lazuli ), Christophe Mortagne (Le Roi Ouf I), Hélène Guilmette (La Princesse Laoula), Jérôme Varnier (Siroco), -Elliot Madore (Hérisson de Porc-Épic), Julie Boulianne (Aloès), François Piolino (Tapioca), François Soons (Patacha), Harry Teeuwen (Zalzal), Jeroen van Glabbeek (Le Maître), Richard Prada (Le Chef de la Police),

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

2019 Blu-Ray and DVD.

References

External links

Vocal scoreL'étoile Libretto, 1877 (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etoile French-language operas Operas Operas by Emmanuel Chabrier Opéras bouffes 1877 operas