Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde
by Hervé
Opéra-bouffe in tre atti, words by Henri Chivot and Alfred Duru
Music by Louis-Auguste-Florimond Ronger, known as Hervé (1825-1892)
First performed on November 17, 1866 at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens
Version for 13 singers and 12 instrumentalists
Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde (The Knights of the Round table) is the first of Hervé's great operettas, with which he launched the cycle of his four masterpieces (followed by L’Œil crevé, Chilpéric and Le Petit Faust). Rather than narrating the well-known adventures of Lancelot and Merlin, the opera stages an imaginary world rich with allusions to an enchanted Middle Ages. The lavish presence of an important number of secondary characters (in particular four absurd knights) allowed Hervé to create an ambitious show, capable of competing with certain productions then being put on at the Opéra-Comique. It contains the four main components of the musical comedy: parody (of ‘serious’ genres or foreign music), rhythmic energy, an offbeat virtuosity and popular tunes. The action, transferred to those chivalrous times in a period of French history much loved by the 19th century, gives special importance to the female characters. Mélusine, Totoche and Angélique share the limelight by caricaturing those supposedly typical feminine traits of love, jealousy, greed and sensuality. Alongside them Rodomont, Roland and Merlin present a dulled and softened image of knightly courage.
«You are getting through an awful lot
of blondes and brunettes;
if you are called knights in shining armour,
it’s not for nothing, you know!»
Merlin
Streaming
Cast
compagnie LES BRIGANDS
Musical director Christophe Grapperon
Stage director Pierre-André Weitz
Assisted by Victoria Duhamel
Chorus masters Nicolas Ducloux and Christophe Manien
Movement Iris Florentiny and Yacnoy Abreu Alfonso
Costume and set design Pierre-André Weitz
Assisted by Pierre Lebon and Mathieu Crescence
Stage manager Ingrid Chevalier and Clarice Flocon
Lightning Bertrand Killy
Rodomont, the duke Damien Bigourdan
Sacripant, marshal Antoine Philippot
Merlin, wizard Arnaud marchrati
Médor, young minstrel Manuel Nuñez Camelino /
Artavazd Sargsyan (dates 25 and 31 December 2016)
Totoche, the duchess Ingrid Perruche
Angélique, her stepdaughter Lara Neumann
Mélusine, sorceress Chantal Santon-Jeffery
Fleur-de-Neige Clémentine Bourgoin
Roland, knight errant Samy Camps / Rémy Mathieu (date 6 January 2017)
Amadis des Gaules David Ghilardi
Lancelot du Lac Théophile Alexandre
Renaud de Montauban Jérémie Delvert
Ogier le Danois Pierre Lebon
Transcription for 13 singers and 12 instrumentalists by Thibault Perrine
First performance on November 22, 2015 at the Opéra National de Bordeaux
Associate producer Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de musique romantique française
In collaboration with Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet
Executive producer compagnie LES BRIGANDS
Co-production Opéra de Reims / Centre des bords de Marne, scène publique conventionnée du Perreux-sur-Marne / La Coursive – Scène nationale La Rochelle / Opéra de Limoges
With the support of Arcadi Île-de-France, SPEDIDAM, ADAMI and DRAC Île-de-France
In partnership with Angers Nantes Opéra
Decor made by the the Opéra de Reims’ workshops
Tickets
Pubblications
Hervé par lui-même
Pascal BlanchetCollection: Actes Sud / Palazzetto Bru Zane
Pascal Blanchet, dottorato in Musicologia, professore, conferenziere e sceneggiatore.
La sua tesi, sostenuta nall’Università di Montréal nel 2010, è incentrata su Hervé e il suo contributo nella creazione del genere dell’operetta.
buy the book
Extraits des Chevaliers de la Table ronde d’Hervé
with Les Brigands and Christophe Grapperonun CD “ricordo” in vendita esclusivamente dopo le rappresentazioni