''Ba-ta-clan'' is a "

chinoiserie (, ; loanword from French '' chinoiserie'', from '' chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other Sinosphere artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, lite ...

musicale" (or

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

) in one act with music by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

to an original French

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French people, French author and playwright, known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on the libretto, libretti for Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and comic operas by Jacques Offenbach, inc ...

. It was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Paris, on 29 December 1855.Lamb A. Ba-ta-clan. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. The operetta uses set numbers and spoken dialogue and runs for under an hour.

Background

''Ba-ta-clan'' was Offenbach's first big success, and opened his new winter theatre, the

Salle Choiseul Salle is the French word for 'hall', 'room' or 'auditorium', as in: *Salle des Concerts Herz, a former Paris concert hall *Salle Favart, theatre of the Paris Opéra-Comique *Salle Le Peletier, former home of the Paris Opéra *Salle Pleyel, a Paris ...

. The witty piece satirised everything from contemporary politics to grand opera conventions. It was frequently revived in Paris, London and New York for decades, and Offenbach eventually expanded it as a full-length piece with a cast of eleven. Offenbach's early operettas were small-scale one-act works, since the law in France limited the licence for musical theatre works (other than most operas) to one-act pieces with no more than three singers and, perhaps, some mute characters. In 1858, this law was changed, and Offenbach was able to offer full-length works, beginning with ''

Orpheus in the Underworld ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux, Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act "op ...

''. In 1864, a music-hall called Bataclan opened in Paris, named after the operetta, and is still functioning today. ''Ba-ta-clan'' was first performed in England on 20 May 1857 at St James's Theatre during Offenbach's second visit to London, arranged by his father-in-law John Mitchell, when the composer brought the Bouffes company including orchestra and offered 19 different pieces, 11 by him. Lamb, Andrew. "Offenbach's conquest of London", ''About the House'', Vol. 5, No. 12, Summer 1980, pp. 35–39. The article was originally published by the Offenbach 1980 Centenary Committee, London. In 1867 the work was produced on a triple bill at St George's Opera House in London (as ''Ching-Chow-Hi'') alongside ''

La Chatte métamorphosée en femme ''La chatte métamorphosée en femme'' (''The cat transformed into a woman'') is a one-act opéra comique of 1858 with words by Eugene Scribe and Mélesville, and music by Jacques Offenbach. Performance history ''La chatte métamorphosée en fe ...

'' (as ''Puss in Petticoats'') and the premiere of Sullivan's ''

The Contrabandista ''The Contrabandista'', ''or The Law of the Ladrones'', is a two-act comic opera by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand. It premiered at St. George's Hall, in London, on 18 December 1867 under the management of Thomas German Reed, for a run of 7 ...

''. While the historical butt of the satire,

Napoléon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

, has passed, the situation mocked is timeless, the emperor Fé-ni-han being able to represent any great ruler on earth.Jacques Offenbach: Ba-ta-clan. In: Kaminski, Piotr. ''Mille et Un Opéras''. Fayard, 2003, p1062. Three years after the coup that replaced the Republic with the Empire and as France celebrated a victory in Crimea, the fake Chinese poke fun at the chauvinism of the time; in

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

France, everything is under state surveillance, little different from the imaginary China depicted on stage. Kracauer summed up the target of the piece as; "Power is a joke and court life mere mummery".Kracauer, Siegfried. ''Offenbach and the Paris of his time'' (translated by David, G. & Mosbacher E.). London: Constable, 1937, p144.

Roles

Synopsis

The action takes place in Ché-i-no-or, in the gardens of the palace of the Emperor Fè-ni-han, with kiosks and pagodas. Ko-ko-ri-ko, chief of the guard is the head of a conspiracy to dethrone the Emperor; the opera opens with the conspirators setting the scene in

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

. They leave, and the princess Fé-an-nich-ton reads a book – ''La Laitière de Montfermeil'' by

Paul de Kock Charles Paul de Kock (May 21, 1793 in Passy, Paris – April 27, 1871 in Paris) was a French novelist. Although one of the most popular writers of his day in terms of book sales, he acquired a literary reputation for low-brow output in poor taste ...

; she notices that Ké-ki-ka-ko is leafing through a copy of ''La Patrie''. They realize that each of them is not Chinese, but French. Ké-ki-ka-ko is the Viscount Alfred Cérisy, once shipwrecked on the coast of China and captured, tortured and brought to the palace and condemned to only repeat the rebels' song Ba-ta-clan. Fé-an-nich-ton confesses in song that she is Mademoiselle Virginie Durand, a light soprano who was on a Far East tour to initiate the locals into the great French repertoire: ''

Les Huguenots () is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836. Composition history '' ...

'' and ''

La Dame aux Camélias ''The Lady of the Camellias'' (), sometimes called ''Camille'' in English, is a novel by Alexandre Dumas ''fils''. First published in 1848 and subsequently adapted by Dumas for the stage, the play premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in P ...

'', ''

La Juive ''La Juive'' (, ) is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Paris, on 23 February 1835. Composition history ''La Juive'' ...

'' and ''

Les Rendez-vous bourgeois ''Les rendez-vous bourgeois'' () is an opéra bouffon in one act by Nicolas Isouard to a French libretto by François-Benoît Hoffmann, in the form of an ''opéra comique'' with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers. The work was first per ...

'', ''

Phèdre ''Phèdre'' (; originally ''Phèdre et Hippolyte'') is a French dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677 at the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. Composition and premiere With ...

'' and '' Passé minuit'', when she was captured by the soldiers of Fé-ni-han. The two Parisians reflect wistfully of home, and Fé-an-nich-ton sings the 'Ronde de Florette'. They both decide to run away, dancing as they go. The conspirators return, but when alone, Fè-ni-han laments on his lot; he is actually Anastase Nourrisson, a native of

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

and his only wish is to see France again. Ko-ko-ri-ko comes back threateningly and he and Fè-ni-han sing a duo in made-up Italian in the style of Bellini. In fact Fé-an-nich-ton and Ké-ki-ka-ko have been caught by Ko-ko-ri-ko while trying to flee, and the emperor has been asked for the death penalty, which he cannot refuse. In their distress, Virginia and Alfred sing one last time La Ronde de Florette, and Fè-ni-han is amazed to hear them speaking French, likewise Fé-an-nich-ton and Ké-ki-ka-ko are surprised to hear the Emperor talking their language. Fè-ni-han dismisses the conspirators and explains how eight years previously he was dragged in front of the real prince Fè-ni-han and told that the only way he would avoid execution was by assuming the habits and role of emperor. He now makes the same offer to Ké-ki-ka-ko who naturally refuses, and asks why an insurrection is being plotted. Fè-ni-han, it seems, through not speaking Chinese had accidentally impaled the five most virtuous people in the land, and now faces a conspiracy against his rule. Ké-ki-ka-ko threatens to join the conspiracy so both summon the conspirators with the Ba-ta-clan anthem (mixed with the Chorale 'Ein feste Burg' from ''Les Huguenots''). Finally, Fè-ni-han is handed a letter from the chief conspirator on a silver platter, revealing that he, Ko-ko-ri-ko, is also of French origin (born rue Mouffetard) and he is ready to provide the means for their escape in return for being allowed himself to become Emperor. All ends happily with a reprise of the Ba-ta-clan anthem, and Fé-an-nich-ton, Ké-ki-ka-ko and Fé-ni-han prepare to depart for France.

Recordings

Jacques Offenbach: ''Ba-Ta-Clan'', Orchestre

Jean-François Paillard Jean-François Paillard (12 April 1928 – 15 April 2013) was a French conductor. He was born in Vitry-le-François and received his musical training at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he won first prize in music history, and the Salzburg Mo ...

, Choir Philippe Caillard *Conductor:

Marcel Couraud Marcel Just Théodore Marie Couraud (20 October 1912 in Limoges – 14 September 1986 in Loches) was a French orchestral and choral conductor and organist. Biography Couraud studied organ with André Marchal in Paris where he attended the Ecol ...

*Principal singers: Huguette Boulangeot (Fé-an-nich-ton), Raymond Amade (Ké-ki-ka-ko), Rémy Corazza (Fé-ni-han), René Terrasson (Ko-ko-ri-ko); a linking narration is read by

Jean Desailly Jean Desailly (24 August 1920 – 11 June 2008) was a French actor. He was a member of the Comédie-Française from 1942 to 1946, and later participated in about 90 movies. Life and career Desailly studied at the École nationale supérieure des ...

. *Recording date: March 1966 *Label: Erato 063-19 989-2 (CD, with '' Les bavards'') Jacques Offenbach: ''Ba-Ta-Clan'', L'Ensemble de Basse-Normandie *Conductor: Dominique Debart *Principal singers: Maryse Castets (Fé-an-nich-ton), Vincent Vittoz (Ké-ki-ka-ko), Bernard van der Meersch (Fé-ni-han), Michel Hubert (Ko-ko-ri-ko) *Recording date: 1986 *Label: Pluriel PL 3374 (CD)

References

External links