''Le déserteur'' (, ''The Deserter'') is a ''drame mélé de musique'' (''

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 ...

'') by the French composer

Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (; – ) was a French composer and a member of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts (1813). He is considered alongside André Grétry and François-André Danican Philidor to have been the founder of a new musical gen ...

with a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Michel-Jean Sedaine Michel-Jean Sedaine (2 June 1719 – 17 May 1797) was a French dramatist and librettist, especially noted for his librettos for ''opéras comiques'', in which he took an important and influential role in the advancement of the genre from the ...

. It was first performed on 6 March 1769 by the

Comédie-Italienne Comédie-Italienne () or Théâtre-Italien () are French names which have been used to refer to Italian-language theatre and opera when performed in France. The earliest recorded visits by Italian players were ''commedia dell'arte'' companies ...

at their public theatre, the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. The work was Monsigny's greatest musical success and is one of the key operas of late 18th-century French ''opéra comique''. It was performed in Amsterdam (1769), Copenhagen (1770), Germany in German translation (1770: Hamburg and Brunswick; 1771: Frankfurt), London on 2 November 1773 in an English version by

Charles Dibdin Charles Dibdin (before 4 March 1745 – 25 July 1814) was an English composer, musician, dramatist, novelist, singer and actor. With over 600 songs to his name, for many of which he wrote both the lyrics and the music and performed them himself ...

, who added music of his own and two numbers by

Philidor Philidor (''Filidor'') or Danican Philidor was a family of musicians that served as court musicians to the French kings. The original name of the family was Danican (D'Anican) and was of Scottish origin (Duncan). Philidor was a later addition to t ...

, and was performed in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on 8 June 1787 in French and in Philadelphia on 11 July 1787 in English (London version). It was revived by the Paris

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 ...

on 28 July 1802 at the Salle Feydeau and on 30 October 1843 at the second Salle Favart, in a revised version re-orchestrated by

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...

. The company performed it over 300 times up to 1911. The work mixes serious and comic elements, an example of the latter being the behaviour of the drunkard Montauciel. The theme of a last-minute reprieve from execution influenced later

rescue opera Rescue opera was a genre of opera in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in France and Germany. Generally, rescue operas deal with the rescue of a main character from danger and end with a happy dramatic resolution in which lofty humanistic ide ...

Roles

Synopsis

Alexis, a young soldier, is engaged to be married to Louise, a farmer's daughter. On the orders of her father, she plays a trick on him by pretending she is going to marry her cousin Bertrand instead. Alexis falls for the deception and deserts the army in despair. He is captured and thrown into jail to await execution. Louise goes to see the king to beg for mercy for Alexis. She receives a letter of reprieve but faints from exhaustion before she is able to deliver it. All ends happily, however, when the king arrives in person and frees Alexis.

Recording

*''Le déserteur'' (musical numbers only): William Sharp (Alexis), Dominique Labelle (Louise), Ann Monoyios (Jeannette), David Newman (Montauciel/Second Guard), Eugene Galvin (Jean-Louis/Third Guard), Tony Boutté (Bertrand/First Guard), Darren Perry (Courchemin), Claire Kuttler (Aunt Marguerite), Andrew Adelsberger (Jailer), Opera Lafayette Orchestra, conducted by Ryan Brown
Naxos 8.660263-64
2010)

Adaptations

The opera was adapted as a pantomime ballet at least three times in the eighteenth century: * Zuchelli’s ''Il disertore'', first produced at the King’s Theatre, London, in December 1779 *

Jean Dauberval Jean Dauberval, a.k.a. Jean D’Auberval, (born Jean Bercher in Montpellier, 19 August 1742 – Tours, 14 February 1806), was a French dancer and ballet master. He is most noted for creating the ballet, ''La fille mal gardée'', one of the m ...

’s ''Le déserteur'', first produced at

Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation) ...

in 1772, and at the King’s Theatre, London in May 1784 and the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin in 1804, in a production by Jean Aumer *

Maximilien Gardel Maximilien Gardel (18 December 1741, in Mannheim – 11 March 1787, in Paris) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer of German descent. He was the son of Claude Gardel, ballet master to King Stanisław Leszczyński, and elder brother by 17 ...

’s ''Le déserteur, ballet d'action en trois actes'', first produced at Fontainebleau on 21 October 1786 and the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

on 16 January 1788"''Le Déserteur, ballet-pantomime en 3 actes''"
p. 360] in

Théodore Lajarte Théodore Lajarte (10 July 1826 – 20 June 1890) was a French musicologist, librarian, and composer.Huebner 1992. Early years Lajarte was born in Bordeaux. His full name has been given as Théodore Édouard Dufaure de Lajarte. He studied at t ...

(1878). ''Bibliothèque musicale du Théâtre de l'Opéra'', volume 1 671–1791 Paris: Librairie des Bibliophiles.

References

Sources

*''Viking Opera Guide'' ed. Holden (1993) * Mellace, Raffaele, ''Déserteur, Le'', in Gelli, Piero and Poletti, Filippo (editors), ''Dizionario dell'opera 2008'', Milan, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, p. 304, (reproduced a
Opera Manager
* Sedaine, Michel (1769). ''Le déserteur: Drame en trois actes, en prose melée de musique. Par Monsieur Sedaine. La musique par M***. Représentée '' ic!', pour la premiere fois, par les Comédiens Italiens ordinaires du Roi, le Lundi 6 Mars 1769'', libretto, 82 pages. Paris: Chez Claude Herissant
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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 that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

. *Philippe Vendrix (ed.) ''L'opéra-comique en France au XVIIIe siècle'' (Mardaga, 1992)

External links

Sung text of the Naxos recording with English translation
at the Naxos web site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deserteur, Le Operas by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny 1769 operas French-language operas Operas Rescue operas Comédies mêlées d'ariettes