''Le lazzarone, ou Le bien vient en dormant'' (''The Lad from Naples, or Good comes from Sleeping)'' is an

opéra 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 ...

in two acts 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 ...

to 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 ...

Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (; 7 November 1799 – 23 December 1875) was a French playwright, who was born and died in Paris. He was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, often working in collaboration with others. ...

. It was premiered on 29 March 1844 at 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 ...

. At the instruction of

Léon Pillet Léon Pillet (6 December 1803 – 20 March 1868)Huebner 1992. was a French journalist, civil servant, and director of the Paris Opera from 1840 to 1847. A political appointee, he was probably the least successful director of the Paris Opera in the ...

, the director of the Opéra, the opera was written as a vehicle for his mistress

Rosine Stoltz Rosine Stoltz (born Victoire or Victorine Noël) (13 January 1815 – 30 July 1903) was a French mezzo-soprano. A prominent member of the Paris Opéra, she created many leading roles there including Ascanio in Berlioz's ''Benvenuto Cellini'', Marg ...

(who had recently borne him a child). After some severe critical reactions, the opera was not successful and has not been revived.

Performance history

The inappropriate casting of a far-from-splendid 31-year-old portraying a Neapolitan teenager was not appreciated by the Parisian critics. A review in the ''

Revue et gazette musicale The ' () was a weekly musical review founded in 1827 by the Belgian musicologist, teacher and composer François-Joseph Fétis, then working as professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire de Paris. It was the first French-language ...

'' sardonically regretted the Opéra's 'dearth of

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

s', and noted that the composer was 'forced to do without a timbre of voice so essential to an opera.'

Hector 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'' ...

wrote that 'the

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

is too grandiose, too pompous, too loud and even too slow for this kind of story.' At the premiere, Stoltz particularly annoyed her rival

Julie Dorus-Gras Julie Dorus-Gras (7 September 1805 – 6 February 1896) was a Belgian operatic soprano. Early life and training She was born Julie-Aimée-Josèphe Van Steenkiste,Forbes, Elizabeth. "Dorus-Gras (née Van Steenkiste), Julie(-Aimée-Josephe o ...

by conspicuously eating

macaroni Macaroni (), known in Italian as ''maccheroni'', is a pasta shaped like narrow tubes.Oxford DictionaryMacaroni/ref> Made with durum wheat, macaroni is commonly cut in short lengths; curved macaroni may be referred to as "elbow macaroni". Some ...

onstage during the latter's aria. The opera also marked the Paris debut of

Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludw ...

as an '

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

n dancer'. This however proved a disaster; Montez, losing a shoe during one routine, flung it into the boxes.

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

wrote 'Mlle. Montez ..has small feet and shapely legs. Her use of these is quite another matter'.

Roles

Synopsis

:Place: Naples :Time: The lazy Beppo is enamoured of the flower seller Baptista. Mirobolante and Corvo, discovering Baptista's birth certificate, find that she is unaware that she is an heiress to a fortune. They woo her assiduously; Beppo, feeling he has no chance against such wealthy suitors, goes to sleep. Baptista however wakes him and says she much prefers him to the other two. Mirobolante and Corvo try to prevent their marriage by asserting that Baptista is a minor; her birth certificate however shows that she is 21 that very day.Jordan (1994), p. 121

References

Notes Sources
Libretto
at Gallica website * Jordan, Ruth (1994). ''Fromental Halévy'', London: Kahn and Averill. * Walker, Alan (1988). ''Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years 1811–1847'' (revised edition). London: Faber and Faber. {{Authority control Operas 1844 operas Operas by Fromental Halévy Operas set in Naples French-language operas Opéras comiques