L'attaque du moulin
Encyclopedia
L'attaque du moulin is an opera
in four acts by the French
composer Alfred Bruneau
. The libretto
, by Louis Gallet
, is based on a short story by Emile Zola
about the Franco-Prussian War
which was included in the collection Les soirées de Médan
. L'attaque du moulin was first performed at the Opéra-Comique
, Paris
on 23 November 1893.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in four acts by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer Alfred Bruneau
Alfred Bruneau
Louis-Charles-Bonaventure-Alfred Bruneau was a French composer who played a key role in the introduction of realism in French opera....
. The libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, by Louis Gallet
Louis Gallet
Louis Gallet was an inexhaustible French writer of operatic libretti, plays, romances, memoirs, pamphlets, and innumerable articles, who is remembered above all for his adaptations of fiction—and Scripture— to provide librettos of cantatas and opera, notably by composers Georges...
, is based on a short story by Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
about the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
which was included in the collection Les soirées de Médan
Les Soirées de Médan
Les Soirées de Médan is a collection of six short stories by six different writers associated with Naturalism, first published in 1880. All the stories concern the Franco-Prussian War...
. L'attaque du moulin was first performed at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 23 November 1893.
Roles
| Cast | Voice type | Premiere cast Conductor: Jules Danbé Jules Danbé Jules Danbé was a French conductor, mainly of opera, born in Caen on 16 November 1840, and died 30 October 1905. Trained as a violinist, he was a pupil of Girard and Savard, in 1859 winning a first prize for violin... |
|---|---|---|
| Françoise | 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... |
Georgette Leblanc-Maeterlinck Georgette Leblanc Georgette Leblanc was a French operatic soprano, actress, author, and the sister of novelist Maurice Leblanc. She became particularly associated with the works of Jules Massenet and was an admired interpreter of the title role in Bizet's Carmen... |
| Geneviève | soprano | Jeanne Laisné |
| Marceline | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Marie Delna |
| Dominique | 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... |
Edmond Vergnet |
| Merlier | 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... |
Max Bouvet Max Bouvet Maximilien-Nicolas Bouvet was a French operatic baritone.Bouvet was born at La Rochelle. In 1875 he appeared at the Eldorado café-concert in Paris with the song Les myrtes son flétries by Gustave Nadaud and de Faure.... |
| Sentinel | tenor | Edmond Clément Edmond Clément Edmond Clément was a French lyric tenor who earned an international reputation due to the polished artistry of his singing.... |
| French captain | tenor | E.Thomas |
| Young man | baritone | Henri Artus |
| Enemy captain | baritone | Mondaud |
| Sergeant | baritone | Ragneau |
| Drummer | bass | Hippolyte Belhomme Hippolyte Belhomme Hippolyte-Adolphe Belhomme, was a prominent French bass or bass-baritone and long-term member of the Opéra-Comique company in Paris... |