La chanson de Fortunio (The Song of Fortunio) is a short opéra-comique in one act by Jacques Offenbach with a French libretto by Ludovic Halévy and Hector Crémieux.[1] The music was composed within a week, with a further week being spent in preparations for the production. Its success was welcome after the failure of Barkouf a fortnight earlier.[2]
Jacques Offenbach by Nadar, c. 1860s
Taken as a whole, this operetta has never formed part of what may be termed the standard repertoire, but despite this, and especially during the period prior to the First World War, the title song remained extremely popular as a recital item, and indeed the writer of Offenbach's obituary in The Times considered the song itself to be one of his best compositions along with Orpheus in the Underworld and La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein – with La belle Hélène following behind these "at some distance".[3]
Offenbach had composed music for the song of Fortunio in act 2, scene 3, of Le Chandelier by Alfred de Musset[4] for a revival of the play in 1850 at the Comédie-Française and this was published (by Heugel) as part of Offenbach's collection of songs Les Voix mystérieuses in 1853, and taken up enthusiastically by the tenor Gustave-Hippolyte Roger in his concerts.[5] The librettists based their one-act La chanson de Fortunio around this song – with the story as a sort of sequel to the original play,[5] the melody of the song being heard in the overture.
Messager composed an opera Fortunio (1907) based on the Musset play; Fortunio's song from that work was also set in Russian by Tchaikovsky as the first of his six Romances, Op. 28.[6]
Valentin and Laurette, played by the actresses Gretchen Müller and Pauline Korolina Zerr
The first public performance of La chanson de Fortunio took place in the Salle Choiseul of the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris, on 5 January 1861.[5] Its premiere in Vienna was on 25 April and it continued to appear regularly on the bill in Paris during 1861 and 1862; it was presented in Germany in Bad Ems the following year.[5]
The work was soon seen around Europe and beyond: Brussels and Berlin in 1861, Budapest, Prague, Graz and Stockholm in 1862, St Petersburg in 1864 (and 1905), New York and Basel in 1867, Milan in 1868 and London in 1871 (and 1907).[7]
Maître Fortunio, an elderly lawyer, is married to a young and attractive wife (Laurette).
Many years ago, when he was a young clerk, Fortunio had seduced the wife of his employer with the help of a particularly alluring song which he used as a means of charming her. Fortunio still recalls this episode, and he begins to suspect that his own young wife might be carrying on a clandestine affair. And indeed, his second clerk Valentin has fallen deeply in love with Laurette, although the young man's timidity has so far prevented him from declaring his passion.
Fortunio accuses his wife of infidelity and resolves to dismiss Valentin from his service. In the meantime, however, the clerks have discovered the old song, and when they begin to sing it, Fortunio realises that his hypocrisy has been exposed. The song has lost none of its efficacy, as is proved when all the clerks suddenly and miraculously acquire new girl friends.
^Alfred Loewenberg: Annals of Opera (London: John Calder, 1978).
^Swedish Media Database (SMDB) Accessed 19 March 2012.
^Dagens Nyheters review Accessed 19 March 2012 (in Swedish)
^Bastien und Bastienne / La chanson de Fortunip performance details 2015-03-11 at the Wayback Machine, State Opera of South Australia, October 2015
^"State Opera's lavish set and costumes with magnificent voices make for an amazing double bill" by Ewart Shaw, The Advertiser, 11 October 2015
Sources
Offenbach Double Bill. In-house theatre programme written and produced by Welsh National Opera for their performance of The Song of Fortunio and Monsieur Colli-flahr's at Home at the Playhouse Theatre, Cheltenham, 12 July 1979.
External linksedit
Discography
Libretto as originally submitted to the censor
La chanson de Fortunio, 1861 publication on archive.org
chanson, fortunio, song, fortunio, short, opéra, comique, jacques, offenbach, with, french, libretto, ludovic, halévy, hector, crémieux, music, composed, within, week, with, further, week, being, spent, preparations, production, success, welcome, after, failur. La chanson de Fortunio The Song of Fortunio is a short opera comique in one act by Jacques Offenbach with a French libretto by Ludovic Halevy and Hector Cremieux 1 The music was composed within a week with a further week being spent in preparations for the production Its success was welcome after the failure of Barkouf a fortnight earlier 2 Jacques Offenbach by Nadar c 1860sTaken as a whole this operetta has never formed part of what may be termed the standard repertoire but despite this and especially during the period prior to the First World War the title song remained extremely popular as a recital item and indeed the writer of Offenbach s obituary in The Times considered the song itself to be one of his best compositions along with Orpheus in the Underworld and La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein with La belle Helene following behind these at some distance 3 Offenbach had composed music for the song of Fortunio in act 2 scene 3 of Le Chandelier by Alfred de Musset 4 for a revival of the play in 1850 at the Comedie Francaise and this was published by Heugel as part of Offenbach s collection of songs Les Voix mysterieuses in 1853 and taken up enthusiastically by the tenor Gustave Hippolyte Roger in his concerts 5 The librettists based their one act La chanson de Fortunio around this song with the story as a sort of sequel to the original play 5 the melody of the song being heard in the overture Messager composed an opera Fortunio 1907 based on the Musset play Fortunio s song from that work was also set in Russian by Tchaikovsky as the first of his six Romances Op 28 6 Contents 1 Performance history 2 Roles 3 Synopsis 4 Musical numbers 5 References 6 External linksPerformance history edit nbsp Valentin and Laurette played by the actresses Gretchen Muller and Pauline Korolina ZerrThe first public performance of La chanson de Fortunio took place in the Salle Choiseul of the Theatre des Bouffes Parisiens Paris on 5 January 1861 5 Its premiere in Vienna was on 25 April and it continued to appear regularly on the bill in Paris during 1861 and 1862 it was presented in Germany in Bad Ems the following year 5 The work was soon seen around Europe and beyond Brussels and Berlin in 1861 Budapest Prague Graz and Stockholm in 1862 St Petersburg in 1864 and 1905 New York and Basel in 1867 Milan in 1868 and London in 1871 and 1907 7 In 1979 the opera was revived in an English translation by Michael Geliot by Welsh National Opera who staged it at the Teatr y Werin in Aberystwyth the Sir Thomas Picton School in Haverfordwest the Teatr Gwynedd in Bangor the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester the Astra Theatre in Llandudno and the Playhouse Theatre in Cheltenham It formed the first part of an Offenbach double bill the other half of the programme being M Choufleuri restera chez lui le or as it was advertised in English Monsieur Colli flahr s at Home It was recorded on Swedish television in 1981 with Gunnar Bjornstrand as Maitre Fortunio 8 9 The State Opera of South Australia presented the opera in 2015 on a double bill with Mozart s Bastien und Bastienne 10 11 Roles editRole Voice type Premiere cast 5 January 1861 Conductor Jacques Offenbach Fortunio a lawyer baritone DesireLaurette his wife soprano Marguerite ChabertLandry a clerk soprano TaffanelGuillaume a clerk soprano Rose DeschampsSaturnin a clerk soprano NordiSylvain a clerk soprano LecuverValentin second clerk to Fortunio soprano PfotzerBabet Fortunio s cook mezzo BaudoinFriquet a junior clerk tenor Debruille BacheSynopsis editPlace The garden of Fortunio s house in Lorraine Time Seventeenth centuryMaitre Fortunio an elderly lawyer is married to a young and attractive wife Laurette Many years ago when he was a young clerk Fortunio had seduced the wife of his employer with the help of a particularly alluring song which he used as a means of charming her Fortunio still recalls this episode and he begins to suspect that his own young wife might be carrying on a clandestine affair And indeed his second clerk Valentin has fallen deeply in love with Laurette although the young man s timidity has so far prevented him from declaring his passion Fortunio accuses his wife of infidelity and resolves to dismiss Valentin from his service In the meantime however the clerks have discovered the old song and when they begin to sing it Fortunio realises that his hypocrisy has been exposed The song has lost none of its efficacy as is proved when all the clerks suddenly and miraculously acquire new girl friends Musical numbers editOverture Couplets de Laurette Prenez garde a vous Ensemble du pain et des pommes Il est parti Chanson a boire La belle eau claire Couplets du petit Friquet Ronde des clercs Autrefois aujourd hui Couplets de Valentin Je t aime Duo ensemble couplets valse des clercs Toutes les femmes sont a nous Duo et chanson de Fortunio Scene finalReferences edit Lamb A Works Jacques Offenbach work list In The New Grove Dictionary of Opera London and New York Macmillan 1997 subscription required Harding J Jacques Offenbach London John Calder 1980 Offenbach obituary in The Times 6 October 1880 p 3 column G Musset Theatre Tome II Collection du Flambeau Paris Hachette 1954 a b c d Yon Jean Claude Jacques Offenbach Paris Editions Gallimard 2000 Tchaikovsky Six Romances Op 28 Alfred Loewenberg Annals of Opera London John Calder 1978 Swedish Media Database SMDB Accessed 19 March 2012 Dagens Nyheters review Accessed 19 March 2012 in Swedish Bastien und Bastienne La chanson de Fortunip performance details Archived 2015 03 11 at the Wayback Machine State Opera of South Australia October 2015 State Opera s lavish set and costumes with magnificent voices make for an amazing double bill by Ewart Shaw The Advertiser 11 October 2015 Sources Offenbach Double Bill In house theatre programme written and produced by Welsh National Opera for their performance of The Song of Fortunio and Monsieur Colli flahr s at Home at the Playhouse Theatre Cheltenham 12 July 1979 External links editDiscography Libretto as originally submitted to the censor La chanson de Fortunio 1861 publication on archive org La chanson de Fortunio Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Les couplets de Laurette on YouTube sung by Maud Hernequet Ensemble du pain et des pommes and Chanson a boire on YouTube Student performance of the title song from La chanson de Fortunio on YouTube Portal nbsp Opera Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title La chanson de Fortunio amp oldid 1176675160, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
