Significant French Operas

La Fille du Tambour-Major

Opéra comqiue in 3 acts

Music by Jacques Offenbach

Libretto by Alfred Duro
& Henri-Charles Chivot

First Performance: Théâtre des Folies Dramatiques, Paris, December 13, 1879

Cast:
Stella
La Duchesse Della Volta
Claudine
La Supérieure
Lucrezia
Monthabor
Le Lieutenant Robert
Griolet
Le Duc Della Volta
Le Marquis Bambini
Clampas
Chorus: SSTTBB

Background

Synopsis

     Lieutenant Robert is in command of a company of French soldiers which has crossed the Alps and joined Bonapart's Italian army. His task is to harry the Austrian troops under General Mélas, in Lombardy. Flanked by the picturesque drum major Monthabor and the drummer boy Griolet, he surrounds a convent, and the women flee in terror. Only one is bold enough to stay, the charming Stella, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess dell Volta. It is love at first sight between Robert and the courageous girl, and she follows him.
     As is natural in an operetta, the lieutenant is billeted in the palace of the Duke of Novara where, by a providential coincidence, he finds the drum major Monthabor and the Duchess dell Volla - who is none other than his ex-wife! And the greatest surprise of all - Stella is their own daughter! Guided only by her heart, Stella enlists in her father's company as a vivandière.
     In the meantime, the Austrian police are hunting for Robert, Monthabor and Stella. Her parents, for reasons which have nothing to do with love, try to force her to marry one of her suitors, the influential and slightly ridiculous Marquis Bambini.
     But, at the eleventh hour, a deux ex machina appears in teh form of Bonaparte, who has defeated Mélas, and in the last scene the liberating French troops enter Milan, acclaimed by the population. Stella can marry Robert and, thanks to Offenbach, the ex-daughter of the regiment will become famous!

Libretto

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Last updated: January 09, 2008