G. P. U.
Chicago, August, 1902.
CONTENTS
PAGE ADAM [The Postilion of Lonjumeau] 15 AUBER [Fra Diavolo] 19 [The Crown Diamonds] 22 AUDRAN [Olivette] 26 [The Mascot] 29 BALFE [The Bohemian Girl] 33 [The Rose of Castile] 36 BELLINI [La Sonnambula] 40 BENEDICT [The Lily of Killarney] 43 BOIELDIEU [La Dame Blanche] 47 CELLIER [Dorothy] 50 CHASSAIQUE [Falka] 52 DeKOVEN [Robin Hood] 57 [Maid Marian] 60 [Rob Roy] 63 [The Fencing-Master] 67 DELIBES [Lakmé] 70 DONIZETTI [The Daughter of the Regiment] 73 [Don Pasquale] 76 [Linda] 78 [The Elixir of Love] 81 EICHBERG [The Doctor of Alcantara] 84 FLOTOW [Martha] 87 [Stradella] 90 GENÉE [Nanon] 93 GOUNOD [Mirella] 97 HUMPERDINCK [Hansel and Gretel] 100 JAKOBOWSKI [Erminie] 103 LECOCQ [Girofle-Girofla] 106 [La Fille de Madame Angot] 109 LÖRTZING [Czar and Carpenter] 113 LUDERS [King Dodo] 116 [The Prince of Pilsen] 118 MASSÉ [Paul and Virginia] 121 [Queen Topaze] 124 [The Marriage of Jeannette] 126 MILLÖCKER [The Beggar Student] 128 [The Black Hussar] 131 NESSLER [The Trumpeter of Säkkingen] 134 NICOLAI [The Merry Wives of Windsor] 138 OFFENBACH [The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein] 141 [La Belle Hélène] 145 [Orpheus] 148 PLANQUETTE [The Chimes of Normandy] 152 RICCI [Crispino] 155 ROSSINI [The Barber of Seville] 158 SOLOMON [Billee Taylor] 161 SOUSA [El Capitan] 164 STRAUSS [The Merry War] 167 [The Queen’s Lace Handkerchief] 169 [Queen Indigo] 171 [Die Fledermaus (The Bat)] 174 STUART [Florodora] 177 SULLIVAN [Cox and Box] 180 [Trial by Jury] 182 [The Sorcerer] 185 [H. M. S. Pinafore] 188 [The Pirates of Penzance] 193 [Patience] 196 [Iolanthe] 200 [Princess Ida] 203 [The Mikado] 206 [Ruddygore] 209 [The Yeomen of the Guard] 213 [The Gondoliers] 216 SUPPÉ [Fatinitza] 220 [Boccaccio] 224 [The Beautiful Galatea] 227 THOMAS [Mignon] 230 WALLACE [Maritana] 233 [Lurline] 236
THE
STANDARD LIGHT OPERAS.
ADAM, ADOLPHE CHARLES.
The Postilion of Lonjumeau.
[Opéra comique, in three acts; text by De Leuven and Brunswick. First produced at the Opéra Comique, Paris, October 13, 1836.]
PERSONAGES.
Chapelou, postilion. Madeleine, mistress of the inn. Marquis de Courcy, opera manager. Bijou, village blacksmith. Boudon, chorus leader.
[Villagers, chorus singers, etc.]
The scene of the opera is laid in Lonjumeau, a French village, and Paris; time of Louis the Fifteenth.
The sprightly opera “The Postilion of Lonjumeau” is characterized by grace and elegance of treatment, fascinating rhythm, and odd contrasts in effects. Its plot is very dramatic, and affords ample scope for humorous action. The opening scene of the first act introduces us to the wedding of Chapelou, the postilion, and Madeleine, mistress of the inn. During the merriment which follows, the Marquis de Courcy, Superintendent of the Paris Grand Opera, whose carriage has broken down, makes his appearance, seeking the aid of a wheelwright. He hears Chapelou singing, and is so pleased with his voice that he offers him a position in the opera. Chapelou after some persuasion accepts, entreats Bijou, the village blacksmith, to look after Madeleine, and goes off with the Marquis in quest of artistic glory. Bijou informs Madeleine of Chapelou’s baseness, and the act closes with her denunciations of him, in which she is enthusiastically assisted by the female members of the wedding-party.
The second act opens in Paris. Madeleine has inherited a fortune from an aunt, and makes her appearance in the gay city as a rich and noble lady, under the assumed name of Madame de la Tour. The Marquis de Courcy, who is in love with her, at her request brings Chapelou, who is now a famous tenor known as St. Phar, Bijou, the Lonjumeau blacksmith, who is primo basso under the name of Alcindor, and the operatic chorus to her château for a rehearsal. St. Phar, not wishing to sing, pleads a cold, but when he learns that he is in the apartments of Madame de la Tour he consents, and the rehearsal goes off finely. Left alone with his hostess, he proposes to her and is accepted, but as he is already married he arranges that Boudon, the chorus leader, shall play the part of priest. The Marquis, who overhears the conspiracy, informs Madame de la Tour, who sends for a real priest and accompanies St. Phar to the altar, where they are married for the second time.