La Basoche is an opéra comique

Opéra comique

Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...

 in three acts of 1890, with music by André Messager

André Messager

André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...

 and a 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 by Albert Carré

Albert Carré

Albert Carré was a French theatre director, opera director, actor and librettist. He was the nephew of librettist Michel Carré and cousin of cinema director Michel Antoine Carré...

.

History

Messager's 1889 opérette Le mari de la reine

Le mari de la reine

Le mari de la reine is an opérette in three acts of 1889, with music by André Messager and a French libretto by E Grenet-Dancourt and Octave Pradels....

 at Bouffes-Parisiens

Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens

The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens is a Parisian theatre which was founded in 1855 by the composer Jacques Offenbach for the performance of opéra bouffe and operetta. The current theatre is located in the 2nd arrondissement at 4 rue Monsigny with an entrance at the back at 65 Passage Choiseul. In...

 was a disappointment, and the composer and his wife were struggling to afford even basic necessities until he found success with La Basoche. The title of the operetta

Basoche

The Basoche was the guild of legal clerks of the Paris court system under the pre-revolutionary French monarchy. It was an ancient institution whose roots are unclear. The word itself derives from the Latin basilica, the kind of building in which the legal trade was practiced in the Middle Ages...

 refers to the old Parisian guild of law clerks that was abolished with the French revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 in the 18th century.

La Basoche 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...

 (Salle du Théâtre Lyrique, place du Châtelet

Place du Châtelet

The Place du Châtelet is a public square in Paris, on the right bank of the river Seine, on the borderline between the 1st and 4th arrondissements...

), Paris, on 30 May 1890 and was initially given on 51 nights. It was revived there up to the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and given at least another 150 performances, with Jean Périer

Jean Périer

Jean Périer was a French operatic baritone and actor. Although he sang principally within the operetta repertoire, Périer did portray a number of opera roles; mostly within operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giacomo Puccini...

, André Baugé

André Baugé

André Gaston Baugé was a French baritone, active in opera and operetta, who also appeared in films in the 1930s.-Life and career:...

 playing Clément Marot and Lucien Fugère

Lucien Fugère

Lucien Fugère was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory and Mozart roles, he enjoyed an exceptionally long career, singing into his 80s.- Life and career :...

 repeating the role of the duke. Messager himself conducted the 1900, 1902 and 1919 productions at the Opéra-Comique. In 1908 the work also entered the repertoire of the Théâtre de la Gaîté

Théâtre de la Gaîté (rue Papin)

In 1862 during Haussmann's modernization of Paris the Théâtre de la Gaîté of the boulevard du Temple was relocated to the rue Papin across from the Square des Arts et Métiers....

 in Paris, the cast including Fernand Francell, and Fugère.

It was presented in London in 1891 in an English translation by Augustus Harris

Augustus Harris

Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris , was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist.-Early life:Harris was born in Paris, France, the son of Augustus Glossop Harris , who was also a dramatist, and his wife, née Maria Ann Bone, a theatrical costumier...

 and Eugène Oudin

Eugène Oudin

Eugène Esperance Oudin was an American baritone, composer and translator of the Victorian era.-Early years:...

 at Richard D'Oyly Carte

Richard D'Oyly Carte

Richard D'Oyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era...

's Royal English Opera House (today's Palace Theatre

Palace Theatre, London

The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...

), running from 3 November 1891 to 16 January 1892. Carré and Messager were present at the opening night and took curtain calls along with the conductor, François Cellier

François Cellier

François Arsène Cellier , often called Frank, was an English conductor and composer. He is best known for his tenure as music director and conductor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company during the original runs and early revivals of the Savoy operas.-Life and career:Cellier was born in South Hackney,...

. Stage direction was by Hugh Moss, and the cast included David Bispham

David Bispham

David Scull Bispham was the first American–born operatic baritone to win an international reputation.- Early life and family:...

 (alternating with Wallace Brownlow

Wallace Brownlow

Wallace Brownlow was an opera singer of the Victorian era best known for baritone roles in the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.-D'Oyly Carte Opera Company:...

) as the Duke, Ben Davies

Ben Davies (tenor)

Ben Davies was a Welsh tenor singer, who appeared in opera with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, in operetta and light opera, and on the concert and oratorio platform...

 (and Joseph O'Mara) as Clément Marot, Charles Kenningham

Charles Kenningham

Charles Kenningham was an English opera singer best remembered for his roles in the 1890s with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company....

 as Jehan L'Eville, and John Le Hay

John Le Hay

John Le Hay was the stage name of John Healy was an Irish-born singer and actor best remembered for his portrayal of the comic baritone roles in the Savoy Operas.-Early career:...

 as Guillot. The success of La Basoche led Carte to produce Messager's Mirette

Mirette (opera)

Mirette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by André Messager, first produced at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 3 July 1894.Mirette exists in two distinct versions. The first version of the libretto was written in French by Michel Carré but this was never performed. English lyrics were...

 in 1894.

La Basoche was produced in New York at the Casino Theatre in a new translation in 1893, conducted by Gustave Kerker

Gustave Kerker

Gustave Adolph Kerker was a German composer and conductor who made a career in London and America. He became a musical director for Broadway theatre productions and wrote the music for a series of musicals.-Life and career:...

. In April 1919 it was seen at the Théâtre Français in Montréal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...	Premiere cast, 30 May 1890 (Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : 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... )
Colette	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 Molé-Truffier
Marie d’Angleterre	soprano	Lize Landouzy
Clément Marot	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...	Gabriel Soulacroix Gabriel Soulacroix Gabriel-Valentin Soulacroix was a French operatic baritone...
Le Duc de Longueville	baritone	Lucien Fugère Lucien Fugère Lucien Fugère was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory and Mozart roles, he enjoyed an exceptionally long career, singing into his 80s.- Life and career :...
L'éveillé	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...	Ernest Carbonne Ernest Carbonne Raymond Jean-Baptiste Ernest Carbonne was a French tenor and stage director who had a long association with the Opéra-Comique in Paris.-Life and Career:...
Louis XII	tenor	Maris
Guillot	tenor	Barnolt Barnolt Barnolt was the stage name of Paul Fleuret , a French operatic tenor associated with the Opéra-Comique in Paris.-Career:After a year of study at the Paris Conservatoire, where his teachers included Charles Bataille, Barnolt made his debut at the Folies-Marigny and further appearances at the...
Roland	bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...	Bernaert
Le chancelier	tenor	Thierry
L'écuyer du roi	baritone	Troy
Le grand prevot, le veilleur de nuit	baritone	Lonati
Chorus: Citizens, girls, clerks.

Act 1

A square near the Châtelet, on the right the tavern du Plat d’Etain. The day of the election of the king of the basochians

Basoche

The Basoche was the guild of legal clerks of the Paris court system under the pre-revolutionary French monarchy. It was an ancient institution whose roots are unclear. The word itself derives from the Latin basilica, the kind of building in which the legal trade was practiced in the Middle Ages...

.

The poet Clément Marot

Clément Marot

Clément Marot was a French poet of the Renaissance period.-Youth:Marot was born at Cahors, the capital of the province of Quercy, some time during the winter of 1496-1497. His father, Jean Marot , whose more correct name appears to have been des Mares, Marais or Marets, was a Norman from the Caen...

 puts himself forward against the pedant Roland (in a poem "Oui, de rimes je fais moisson"). As the king of the basochians is required to be a bachelor, he hides the existence of a wife, Colette, whom he has left behind in Chevreuse

Chevreuse

Chevreuse is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-History:Chevreuse was founded in the 10th century, and celebrated its first millennium of existence in 1980...

. When she arrives in Paris he pretends not to know her – but tells her secretly that he will rejoin her soon. She gets herself taken on at the tavern, where the next day the widowed Louis XII

Louis XII of France

Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...

 will receive his new young wife, Mary of England, the sister of Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

. The same Mary now arrives incognito, disguised as a Norman

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

, accompanied by the Duc de Longueville. When the procession of the king of the Basoche comes along, Colette takes Marot to be the real king, while Mary thinks that the man is her husband.

Act 2

Evening – a large room in the Plat d’Etain tavern.

While clerks party, and Roland hopes to unmask Marot and his wife, Colette, at work, dreams of her future life as a queen. In a duet, both Marie and Colette declare their love for the 'king'. The Duke returns from the royal palace where he has announced the arrival of Mary, who sends him off to request the 'king' attend her for dinner, and then goes off to get ready to receive him. Marot reaffirms his love for Colette, but Mary returns and sees the one she thinks is to be her husband; Colette begins to serve them dinner.

Roland’s party burst in to reveal Marot’s existing marriage, but it is Mary who says that she is the wife of the king and the duke who in turn says that he is Mary’s wife. After everyone else has left, the king’s entourage arrive – only for Colette to receive them, and be taken to the Hôtel des Tournelles.

Act 3

The Hotel de Tournelles

Place des Vosges

The Place des Vosges is the oldest planned square in Paris.It is located in the Marais district, and it straddles the dividing-line between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris.- History :...

Louis XII greets Colette, who cannot believe that the old man is her husband. Believing that he has been deceived, the King decides to send Longueville and Colette to England; alone, the duke thinks that the young woman loves him. The cortege of the Basoche passes by the palace, and the two women realise who their 'king' was. Colette consoles herself with the thought that she will have Clément back, Marie disappointed, finding the false king more charming than the real one.

The duke suddenly realizes what has happened, and wants Marot arrested, but it is Roland, now the Basoche king, who is taken. Convinced that he will hang, Marot makes his farewell, but he is pardoned by Louis, and leaves Paris with Colette, while Louis marries Marie.

Musical numbers

Act 1

• Introduction
• "C’est aujourd’hui que la Basoche" (Ensemble)
• "Je suis aimé de la plus belle" (Clément)
• "En attendant l’heure de la bataille" (Guillot)
• "Quand tu connaîtra Colette" (Clément)
• "Midi, c’est l’heure qui nous ramène" (Chorus)
• "Volage? Lui? Clément?" (Colette)
• "Bonjour ami" (Colette, Clément, Roland, L’Eveillé, Chorus)
• "Dans ce grand Paris" (L’Eveillé)
• "Nous reposer? C’est impossible Altesse" (Longueville, Marie)
• "Trop lourd est le poids du veuvage" (Longueville)
• Finale I " Vive le Roi!" (Chorus, Clément, Marie, Guillot, Colette)

Act 2

• "A vous, belles maîtresses" (Chorus)
• "Voici le guet qui passe" (Ensemble)
• "Si, de la souveraineté" (Marie, Colette)
• "Ah! Colette, c’est toi? " Clément, Colette
• "A table! auprès de moi" (Marie, Clément, Colette)
• "Eh! que ne parliez-vous?" (Longueville)
• "Il faut agir adroitement " (Ensemble)
• "Nous accourons, au lever du soleil" (Ensemble)

Act 3

• "Jour de liesse et de réjouissance?" (Chorus, Louis, l’écuyer)
• "En honneur de notre hyménée" (Colette, Louis)
• "Elle m’aime" (Longueville)
• Romance and trio (Marie, Longueville, Colette)
• "A ton amour simple et sincère" (Clément)
• Finale III " Arrêtez! s’il s’agit d’être pendu" (Ensemble)

Recordings

Various extracts were recorded in during the 1920s and 30s (including some by Fugère).

A complete French radio broadcast of July 1960, with Nadine Sautereau, Camille Maurane

Camille Maurane

Camille Maurane, born Camille Moreau , was a French baritone singer. His father was a music teacher and he started singing as a child in the Maîtrise Saint-Evode in Rouen...

, Irene Jaumillot and Louis Noguera, conducted by Tony Aubin, was subsequently issued on CD.

Extended excerpts were recorded in 1961, featuring Liliane Berton

Liliane Berton

Liliane Berton was a French soprano, known principally on the opera stage, but also active in radio recordings and as a teacher.-Career:...

, Nicole Broissin, Henri Legay

Henri Legay

Henri Legay was a French operatic tenor. He was primarily French-based as his light lyric voice was especially suited to the French operatic repertoire....

 and Michel Dens

Michel Dens

Michel Dens was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory, both opera and operetta....

, conducted by Jacques Pernoo.