Les brigands

Les brigands

Les brigands (The Bandits) is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.
Les brigands was first performed at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris on 10 December 1869. This version was in three acts. A four-act version was subsequently prepared for a production at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, opening on 25 December 1878. The piece achieved great success as the Second Empire came to an end. Only the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in the following months dampened audience enthusiasm. The piece also played in New York City at The Grand Opera House in 1870-71.Meilhac and Halévy's libretto is cheerfully amoral in its presentation of theft as a basic principle of society rather than as an aberration. The forces of law and order are represented by the bumbling carabinieri, who always arrive too late to capture the thieves, and whose exaggerated attire delighted the Parisian audience during the premiere. Les brigands has a more substantial plot than many Offenbach operettas and integrates the songs more completely into the story. In addition to policemen, financiers receive satiric treatment.
The music of the piece influenced Bizet in writing Carmen, and the librettists for this work supplied Bizet's libretto.
The piece was translated in three acts as The Brigands by English dramatist W. S. Gilbert and published by Boosey in 1871 but was not performed until 9 May 1889 at the Casino Theatre, New York City, starring Edwin Stevens as Falsacappa (the brigand chieftain), Lillian Russell as Fiorella, Fred Solomon as Pietro (the brigand lieutenant), Henry Hallam as the Duke, and Fanny Rice as Fragoletto, with an American tour thereafter. Its British premiere was on 2 September 1889 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, again starring Russell, soon transferring to the Avenue Theatre in London, beginning 16 September 1889, running for about 16 nights until 12 October. It then toured, starring Hallam Mostyn as Falsacappa, H. Lingard as Pietro, Frank Wensley as Fragoletto, Agnes Dellaporte as Fiorella, Marie Luella as the Princess of Granada, and Geraldine St. Maur as Fiametta.
Gilbert was displeased with his own work and attempted to prevent its performance in London - fortunately without success. He also objected to new songs inserted in the piece but written by another lyricist.Gilbert's arch lyrics pleased operetta audiences, who were delighted to accept a rough-and-tumble pirate band speaking impeccable drawing room English while describing dastardly deeds to gavottes and musical romps in three-quarter time. Many of the characters and situations in the piece are echoed later in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance and The Gondoliers.
An earlier English version by H. S. Leigh was presented at the Globe Theatre in London under the name Falsacappa, beginning on 13 September, 1875. Camille Dubois starred as Fragoletto, Julia Vokins was the Princess of Granada and Nelly Bromley was the Prince of Popoli. This version had also been given an 1871 performance in London.
Roles
Role Voice type Premiere Cast, December 10, 1869,
(Conductor: Jacques Offenbach )
Adolphe de Valladolid tenor Henri Venderjench 'Cooper'
Antonio, treasurer to the Duke tenor Léonce
Barbavano bass Daniel Bac
Baron de Campo-Tasso tenor Charles Blondelet
Carmagnola tenor Gobin
Comte de Gloria-Cassis tenor Gourdon
Domino tenor Bordier
Duc de Mantoue baritone Constant Lanjallais
Falsacappa, the chief tenor José Dupuis
Fiorella, his daughter soprano Marie Aimée
Fragoletto, a farmer mezzo-soprano Zulma Bouffar
La Duchesse soprano A Régnault
Pipa, wife of Pipo soprano Léonie
Pipetta, daughter of Pipo soprano Fanny Génat
Pipo, a landlord tenor Boulange
Pietr, the brigand lieut. tenor Karl Knopp
La Princesse de Grenade, a captive soprano Lucciani
Zerlina soprano Julia H.
Bianca soprano Oppenheim
Fiametta soprano Bessy
Ciccinella soprano Douard
Marquise soprano Gravier
Chief of the carabinieri soprano Baron
Preceptor bass Videix
Synopsis
Fragoletto, a young farmer, is captured by Italian brigands lurking in the Alps. He falls in love with Fiorella, the daughter of the bandit chief Falsacappa. Falsacappa intends to move up from small robberies to grand-scale ones. To prove himself, Fragoletto becomes involved in Falsacappa's complicated plan to steal a large sum of money while intercepting the marriage between the Princess of Granada (whom they capture) and the womanizing Prince of Mantua (the Duke). Falsacappa substitutes Fiorella's portrait for that of the Princess and provides his own wedding delegation to Mantua. Eventually, matters are sorted out, the brigands are revealed and pardoned, and Fragoletto marries his beloved Fiorella. The lesson: the true bandits are to be found not in the forest but in the leading circles of society.