La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein
Opera buffa in 3 acts and 4 parts
Libretto by Henry Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
First performed at Théâtre des Variétés in Paris, April 12th, 1867
The Great Duchess of Gérolstein is inspecting her troops before the war. She falls into a swoon over the soldier Fritz and promotes him to Commander-in-Chief… much to the displeasure of General Boum and Baron Puck, who want to marry her to Prince Paul. The Duchess, however, has been rejecting the insignificant Prince for six months. Fritz, who has returned triumphant from the war, makes the Grande-Duchesse angry by confessing his love for Wanda, a young peasant...
La Grande-Duchesse Béatrice Uria Monzon
Wanda Laurence Guillod*
Fritz Sébastien Guèze*
La baron Puck Stuart Patterson
Le prince Paul Frédéric Longbois
Le général Boum Jean-Philippe Lafont
Le baron Grog Marcin Habela*
Népomuc Jean-Pierre Gos
Direction musicale Cyril Diederich
Mise en scène Omar Porras
Décors Amélie Kiritzé-Topor*
Costume designer Virginie Gervaise*
Choreographer József Trefeli*
Lighting designer Mathias Roche
Make up and wigs Véronique Soulier*
Props and special effects Laurent Boulanger
Choirmaster Véronique Carrot
Sinfonietta de Lausanne
Opéra de Lausanne Choir
Events around the production
Espace 2 programmes
Disques en lice: Monday 28 November, 8PM (rerun Saturday 3 December, 3 PM)
Avant-Scène: Saturday 17 December , 7PM
Work to be broadcast in À l’Opéra: Saturday 31 December , live, 7PM
Forum Opéra Conference
Thursday 21 October, 6:45PM, Grande Salle at Conservatory HEMU.
Speaker: George Reymond
Entrance fee: CHF 15.- / 12.-
Conference at Lausanne University
Thursday 22 December, 5:15PM, Grange de Dorigny
"The operetta: birth of a dramatic genre and lyrical in the Paris of the Second Empire"
Speaker: Jean-Claude Yon (Versailles Saint-Quentin University)
Free entrance.
The lines « Le sabre de mon père », « Dites-lui qu’on l’a remarqué » and « Ah ! Que j’aime les militaires » instantly had all Paris humming away to Offenbach’s huge financial success La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein. All Paris, and also « le Tout-Paris », anyone who was anyone in royal circles, including Napoleon III, The Prince of Wales, Bismarck, the kings of Sweden and Portugal, and Tsar Alexander II, all flocked to see the show. The libretto didn’t escape censorship, however, in an age teeming with General Boums, lost in expeditions to Mexico or Sadowa…