Fisch-Ton-Kan
Encyclopedia
Fisch-Ton-Kan is an opéra bouffe
in one act by Emmanuel Chabrier
of which only some numbers survive. The French
libretto was by Paul Verlaine
, and probably Lucien Viotti, after the 'parade chinoise' Fich-Tong-Khan ou L'orphelin de le Tartarie of 1835 by Thomas Sauvage (1794-1877) and Gabriel de Lurieu (1792-1869).
The title is tongue-in-cheek, as Fisch-Ton-Kan is a phonetic rendition of French fiche ton camp, which may be translated as "clear off!".
Le Sire de Fisch-Ton-Kan was a satirical 'chanson' (music by Antonin Louis, words by Paul Burani
) which became very popular in Paris after the fall of Napoleon III and mocked the ex-emperor, his family and court.
accompanying at the piano. An orchestration for strings and wind quartet (1974) was made by Roger Delage, and broadcast that year on French radio.
From a balcony of the palace, Goulgouly takes a fancy to a young man below: Fisch-Ton-Kan. When each declares their love, he reveals to her that he is a Tartar prince exiled when he was 17 months old for having insulted Kakao, his father's enemy. Kakao orders all foreigners to cut off their right ear and leave it at the customs. When Kakao arrives on his palanquin he asks that boiling water be poured into a giant tea-pot in which Fisch-Ton-Kan is hiding, but Goulgouly manages to stop him. Kakao wants Goulgouly for himself. When Fisch-Ton-Kan intervenes, Kakao condemns him to be impaled but the young man escapes this fate by proving capable of removing the beetle Kakao is convinced he has on his nose. Offering Fisch-Ton-Kan anything to do this, he naturally chooses the hand of Goulgouly.
Opéra bouffe
Opéra bouffe is a genre of late 19th-century French operetta, closely associated with Jacques Offenbach, who produced many of them at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens that gave its name to the form....
in one act by Emmanuel Chabrier
Emmanuel Chabrier
Emmanuel Chabrier was a French Romantic composer and pianist. Although known primarily for two of his orchestral works, España and Joyeuse marche, he left an important corpus of operas , songs, and piano music as well...
of which only some numbers survive. The French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
libretto was by Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
, and probably Lucien Viotti, after the 'parade chinoise' Fich-Tong-Khan ou L'orphelin de le Tartarie of 1835 by Thomas Sauvage (1794-1877) and Gabriel de Lurieu (1792-1869).
The title is tongue-in-cheek, as Fisch-Ton-Kan is a phonetic rendition of French fiche ton camp, which may be translated as "clear off!".
Background
Composed around 1864, by when Verlaine and Chabrier had become good friends, only five complete numbers survive from this early comic work. Many of the situations recur in Chabrier's L'étoile: Goulgouly becomes Laoula, Fisch-Ton-Kan turns into Lazuli and Kakao is a precursor of Ouf Ier. The 'Air de Poussah' was re-used by Chabrier in his Ronde Champêtre, a piano work of 1880.Le Sire de Fisch-Ton-Kan was a satirical 'chanson' (music by Antonin Louis, words by Paul Burani
Paul Burani
Paul Burani , born 26 March 1845 in Paris and died 9 October 1901, was a French author, actor, song-writer and librettist.He collaborated on libretti for the following operas:...
) which became very popular in Paris after the fall of Napoleon III and mocked the ex-emperor, his family and court.
Performance history
Fisch-Ton-Kan (with the title Peh-Li-Khan) was first performed with Chabrier at the piano on 31 March 1875 at the 'Cercle de l'Union artistique' in Paris, where an earlier operétte bouffe to which Chabrier contributed, Le service obligatoire (now lost), had been mounted in December 1872. The next performance was on 22 April 1941 at the Salle du Conservatoire, Paris with Francis PoulencFrancis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
accompanying at the piano. An orchestration for strings and wind quartet (1974) was made by Roger Delage, and broadcast that year on French radio.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, March 31, 1875 (Piano accompaniment by: Chabrier) |
|---|---|---|
| Fisch-Ton-Kan | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
A member of the Cercle de l'Union artistique |
| Poussah, tumbler toy | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
A member of the Cercle de l'Union artistique |
| Goulgouly, daughter of the prime minister Kaout-Chouc | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Mme Priola (?), also a member |
| Kakao, Emperor of China | baritone | A member of the Cercle de l'Union artistique |
Synopsis
from the original playFrom a balcony of the palace, Goulgouly takes a fancy to a young man below: Fisch-Ton-Kan. When each declares their love, he reveals to her that he is a Tartar prince exiled when he was 17 months old for having insulted Kakao, his father's enemy. Kakao orders all foreigners to cut off their right ear and leave it at the customs. When Kakao arrives on his palanquin he asks that boiling water be poured into a giant tea-pot in which Fisch-Ton-Kan is hiding, but Goulgouly manages to stop him. Kakao wants Goulgouly for himself. When Fisch-Ton-Kan intervenes, Kakao condemns him to be impaled but the young man escapes this fate by proving capable of removing the beetle Kakao is convinced he has on his nose. Offering Fisch-Ton-Kan anything to do this, he naturally chooses the hand of Goulgouly.
Recordings
- Christian Mehn (tenor), Francis Dudziak (baritone), Jean-Louis Georgel (baritone), Mireille DelunschMireille DelunschMireille Delunsch is an opera soprano. She was born in Mulhouse, France, and studied musicology and voice at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg. Her debut was at the Opéra du Rhin in Mulhouse, in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov....
(soprano). Strasbourg Collegium Musicum Orchestra conducted by Roger Delage. Arion.
See also
- Ba-ta-clanBa-ta-clanBa-ta-clan is a "chinoiserie musicale", or operetta, in one act by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed at Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Paris, on 29 December 1855. The operetta uses set numbers and spoken dialogue and runs about one...
, a "chinoiserie musicale" by Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
. First performed in 1855.