Gillette de Narbonne facts for kids
Gillette de Narbonne is a fun French opéra comique (which means "comic opera"). It has three acts, with music by Edmond Audran and words by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot. The story is based on an old French tale from a book called The Decameron.
The show first opened on November 11, 1882, in Paris at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens. It was quite popular, running for 122 performances until March of the next year. Later, it was performed in London and Berlin. It didn't do so well in London, but it was more successful in Berlin.
Contents
How the Opera Began
The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens was a famous theater in the 1850s, known for its connection to Jacques Offenbach. After a quiet period, it became popular again in 1877 under a new director, Louis Cantin.
In 1880, the theater had a big hit with Les mousquetaires au couvent, which played over 250 times. Then came another huge success, Edmond Audran's La mascotte, which was performed more than 450 times in 1881 and 1882! When the next show wasn't as popular, Cantin asked Audran and his writers, Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot, to create another opera.
The writers got their idea for Gillette de Narbonne from a story in The Decameron. This same story also inspired Shakespeare's play All's Well That Ends Well. The opera featured many of the same talented performers from their earlier shows, including Marie Montbazon, Charles Lamy, and Louis Morlet.
Gillette de Narbonne first opened on November 11, 1882. While it wasn't as big a hit as La Mascotte, it still did well, running for 122 performances.
Main Performers
Here are some of the main actors who performed in the first show:
- Roger – Louis Morlet
- Olivier – Charles Lamy
- Griffardin – M. Maugé
- King René – M. Riga
- Gillette – Marie Montbazon
The Story of Gillette de Narbonne
Act I The story takes place in Provence, France, in the 1400s. Gillette grew up with the family of young Count Roger. When her father, a very skilled doctor, passed away, Roger's mother adopted Gillette. Gillette has secretly loved Roger for a long time, but he hasn't really noticed her.
King René of Provence is very sick with an illness that no doctor has been able to cure. Gillette's father left her his special medical recipes. She decides to use them to save the king's life. She travels from Narbonne to Aix, earning money by singing and dancing along the way. She gets to see the king and gives him a special medicine. Within a week, the king is completely cured!
The grateful king promises Gillette any reward she wishes. Gillette says that since coming to court, she has reconnected with Roger and wishes to marry him. Roger has been very friendly to Gillette since she arrived, but he doesn't want to marry her or anyone else. However, the king orders that the church service celebrating his recovery will also be Roger and Gillette's wedding.
After the wedding, Roger, who is still unwilling, immediately leaves for Naples, where there is a war. He leaves Gillette a note. It says he will only accept her as his wife if she can show him the ring he is wearing and present him with a child that is clearly his.
Act II A month later, Roger is at an inn near Naples. He is with Olivier, King René's handsome son, who has come to Italy for adventure. Both Roger and Olivier are very interested in Rosita, who is the wife of their friend Griffardin and the niece of the innkeeper.
Gillette arrives at the inn, dressed in men's clothes and pretending to be her own twin brother. She tells Rosita her secret plan. Rosita agrees to meet with Roger, but she demands the ring he wears as a condition. In the dark, Gillette secretly takes Rosita's place. Suddenly, enemy soldiers burst in and take Roger prisoner.
Act III Ten months later, Gillette is back in Provence. She is now the mother of a strong baby boy. Roger returns from being a prisoner on the same day that King René and his court are celebrating the baby's baptism.
Gillette pretends not to care about Roger, who now realizes how wonderful she is. He is worried because he thinks Olivier is not only the baby's godfather but also the real father. Gillette lets him worry for a little while. Then, she shows him the ring, which proves their marriage. Roger kneels before his wife and promises to love her forever.
Later Performances
The opera was performed in London in 1883, but the story was changed to be more proper for the time. In this version, Gillette only secretly meets her husband and gets the ring without any hint of a "bedroom" scene. The main actress, Kate Santley, was praised, but the rest of the cast wasn't considered very good. The music was liked, but critics thought it wasn't as good as Audran's music for La mascotte. This London show closed within a month. However, the opera did much better in Berlin, where Gillette von Narbonne had a good run in 1884–1885.
The most recent performance in Paris was in 1935. The opera was also performed in other French theaters for many years after that. In 2005, the Odéon Theatre in Marseille put on a production.
Recordings
You can find full audio and video recordings of Gillette de Narbonne. The audio recording was led by Pierre Tellier, and the video recording was led by Georges Devaux.
Images for kids
-
Marie Montbazon as the disguised Gillette
