Le Docteur Miracle

In 1856 Offenbach organised a competition for young composers aimed at providing new material, in the form of a one-act opéra-comique, for his new Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, which had recently moved to the Salle Choiseul. Out of seventy-eight entries, in the end five candidates were short-listed and asked to set the libretto of Le Docteur Miracle. The jury awarded the first prize jointly to Georges Bizet and Charles Lecocq. Bizet’s score was premiered at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens on 9 April 1857, a day after Lecocq’s. Each received eleven performances. Bizet’s composition was not performed again until it was rediscovered in 1951. It would be wrong to underestimate this work, composed by a young man barely twenty years of age. Bizet’s natural gift for comedy is in evidence in this work. The melodies are both elegant and refreshing, and the ensembles, characterised by their dramatic verve, are written with remarkable finesse.