Theatre poster, showing scenes from the opera
Playbill L'égyptienne, opérette militaire en 3 actes et 11 tableaux

L'égyptienne is an 1890 operetta in 3 acts and 11 scenes by Charles Lecocq, to a libretto by Henri Chivot, Charles Nuitter and Alexandre Beaumont. The operetta was publicized as an "opérette militaire".[1] It premiered 8 November 1890 at the Folies-Dramatiques, Paris. The Revue d'art dramatique noted that the production took place at the reopened Eden Théâtre, now transformed into an opera house.[2] The reviewer of the Courrier de l'art commented that Lecocq was no longer producing operettas with the frequency of the past and was more selective in choice of material.[3] The piece was not a success and ran for 22 performances.[4]

Original cast

  • Cassegrain – M. Gobin
  • Hector – M. Herault
  • Aboul-Abbas – M. Guyon, fils
  • Kacem – M. Montaubry
  • Descharmettes – M. Maillard
  • Delphine – Mdlle. Pierny
  • Djemileh – Juliette Nesville
  • Théréson – Madame Aciana
  • Madame de Montalban – Madame Genat
  • Myrza – Mddle. Vialda
Source: The Era.[5]

Synopsis

Captain Hector, a gallant French infantry officer, and Mdlle. Delphine, daughter of Madame de Montalban, go up in a captive balloon at Toulon in 1798; the cable breaks, the balloon is wafted among the clouds, where the two while away the time by singing duets; the balloon suddenly descends in the Mediterranean, the couple are rescued, and Delphine's mother has to consent to their immediate marriage. But she plays a trick on her new son-in-law: she is the widow of a general, and using her influence at army headquarters she has him appointed to General Kléber's staff and posted immediately to Egypt. Within an hour of the wedding he embarks, leaving his bride in tears.

After taking part in a French victory, and winning promotion to the rank of major, Hector is wounded during a revolt in Cairo. A rich and beautiful young admirer, Djemileh, sends her servants to rescue him and bring him under her roof. There they bill and coo in a dangerously intimate way during his recovery, while their attendants, Cassegrain and Myrza, do likewise, although the proprieties are – just – observed on all sides.

Aboul-Abbas and Kacem – Djemileh's cruel uncle and her ferocious fiancé – cut short the double tête-à-tête. Hector and Cassegrain are bound with ropes, but vengeance is forestalled by the sudden arrival of Delphine, accompanied by Cassegrain's formidable wife. When Delphine hears of her husband's supposed affair with the Egyptienne, she flies into a rage and threatens to leave him to his conquest, but when the innocence of his flirtation is proved she relents, and all winds up happily with the capture of Aboukir and the triumph of the invincible French, flourishing their Tricolore.

Source: The Era.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Alfred Bates, James Penny Boyd Drama and Opera: The opera 1909 - Page 46 "Lecocq at last found himself established with the public, and produced in rapid succession L'Amour et son Carquois (1868), ... Plutus (1886); Les Grenadiers de Mont-Cornette and Ali-Baba (1887); La Volière (1888) and L'Egyptienne (1890)."
  2. ↑ Revue d'art dramatique 1890 – Volumes 19–20, p. 233 "Folies-Dramatiques: L'Egyptienne, opéra comique en trois actes et onze tableaux de MM. Chivot, Nuitter et Beaumont, musique de M. Ch. Lecocq. L'événement artistique de la quinzaine et, on peut le dire, le premier fait saillant de la saison musicale à été la réouverture de l'Eden Théâtre, transformé en théâtre lyrique. Cette transformation s'est produite dans des conditions favorables.
  3. ↑ Courrier de l'art Eugène Véron, Paul Leroi - 1890 - Volume 10 - Page 381 Art Musical: Folies-Dramatiques: L'Égyptienne. ... Bizet, vous le savez, n'a guère écrit que cinq ou six ouvrages; mais M. Lecocq, dont la veine est plus abondante et la vie plus longue, heureusement, en a déjà produit une cinquantaine ou peu s'en faut. A présent qu'il se repose un peu sur ses lauriers et compose seulement lorsqu'il sent l'inspiration venir, il prétend choisir ses poèmes et ne les accepte plus les yeux fermés ; il cherche et lit volontiers ce qu'on lui présente, ..."
  4. ↑ Noël and Stoullig, p. 377
  5. 1 2 "The Drama in Paris: L'egyptienne", The Era, 15 November 1890, p. 11

Sources

  • Noël, Edouard; Edmond Stoullig (1891). Les annales du théâtre et de la musique. Seizième année: 1890 (in French). Paris: G. Charpentier. OCLC 983192047.
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