- Les mousquetaires au couvent
Les mousquetaires au couvent (The Musketeers at the Convent) is an
opéra-comique in three acts, music byLouis Varney , on alibretto by Jules Prével and Paul Ferrier, after avaudeville by St-Hilaire and Dupont from 1835 entitled "L'habit ne fait pas le moine", created inParis , at theBouffes-Parisiens , on March 16, 1880. It is Varney's most successful work, and the only one to have maintained a place in the French repertoire.Performance history
Since 1945, the operetta has had a few major productions in France, notably at the Gaieté-Lyrique, in 1952 and 1957. There were also presentations in 1968 at the Porte Saint Martin Festival, and at the
Opéra-Comique in 1992, withGabriel Bacquier . The latest major production seems to have been inNice in 2001.Roles and role creators
* Brissac,
baritone Frédéric Achard
* Gontran,tenor Émile Marcelin
* Bridaine, bass Paul Hittemans
* Marie,soprano Louise Rouvroy
* Louise, soprano Élise Clary
* Simone, soprano Giulia Bennatiynopsis
The action takes place in
Touraine , under the reign of KingLouis XIII of France . To serve the politics of theCardinal de Richelieu , the nieces of the Governor of Touraine, Marie and Louise, wards at the convent of theUrsulines inVouvray must become nuns. However Marie is in love, and is loved by Gontran, aMusketeer of the King. Helped by his friend Brissac and L'Abbé Bridaine, and after multiple adventures, the two lovers are united.elected discography
* "Les mousquetaires au couvent" - Michel Trempont (Brissac),
Charles Burles (Gontran),Jules Bastin (Bridaine),Mady Mesplé (Marie), Christiane Chateau (Louise) - Choeurs et Orchestre de la RTBF,Edgar Doneux (conductor) -EMI Classics (1979).ources
* "The Complete Dictionary of Opera and Operetta", James Anderson, (Wings Books, 1993) ISBN 0-517-09156-9
* [http://www.amadeusonline.net/almanacco.php?Start=0&Giorno=16&Mese=03&Anno=1880&Giornata=&Testo=&Parola=Stringa Amadeus almanac]External links
* [http://musicaltheatreguide.com/composers/varney/mousquetaires.htm Les mousquetaires au couvent]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.