''La Révolution Française'' is a French

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

Claude-Michel Schönberg Claude-Michel Schönberg (born 6 July 1944, in Vannes) is a French record producer, actor, singer, songwriter, and musical theatre composer, best known for his collaborations with lyricist Alain Boublil. Major works include '' La Révolution Fr ...

and Raymond Jeannot, book by

Alain Boublil Alain Boublil (born 5 March 1941) is a French national musical theatre lyricist and librettist, best known for his collaborations with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg for musicals on Broadway and London's West End. These include '' La ...

and Jean-Max Rivière, created in 1973. The show premiered at the

Palais des Sports de Paris Palais () may refer to: * Dance hall, popularly a ''palais de danse'', in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK * ''Palais'', French for palace **Grand Palais, the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées **Petit Palais, an art museum in Paris * Palais River in t ...

Synopsis

With the French Revolution as its background, we see unfold the fictional story of the impossible love between Charles Gauthier and Isabelle de Montmorency. Gauthier is the son of a shopkeeper who becomes a member of the Tiers-État, while Isabelle is an aristocrat who is forced to flee with the royal family.

Creative team

*Book and Lyrics:

and Jean-Max Rivière *Music:

and Raymond Jeannot *Arrangements:

Jean-Claude Petit Jean-Claude Petit (born 14 November 1943) is a French composer and arranger, born in Vaires-sur-Marne. After accompanying jazzmen in his childhood, Petit went to the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied harmony and counterpoint. He did the s ...

and Martin Circus

Original cast

Antoine Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is most common in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada ...

: Général Bonaparte * Cyril Azzam: General Kellermann *

Alain Bashung Alain Bashung (born Alain Claude Baschung, ; 1 December 1947 – 14 March 2009) was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded as the most importan ...

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fer ...

* Jean Bentho: M. de La Fayette, Counsellor to the King *Les Enfants de Bondy : The Children of the King (

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

and Marie-Thérèse) *Françoise Boublil:

Charlotte Corday Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont (27 July 1768 – 17 July 1793), known simply as Charlotte Corday (), was a figure of the French Revolution who assassinated revolutionary and Jacobins, Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat on 13 July 1793. Cor ...

Gérard Rinaldi Gérard Rinaldi (February 17, 1943 – March 2, 2012) was a French actor, musician, lyricist, artistic director and singer with Les Charlots. Career Death Rinaldi died of lymphoma on March 2, 2012. He was 69. A few days later, holding back ...

: Talleyrand *

Les Charlots Les Charlots, known as The Crazy Boys in the English-speaking world, was a group of French musicians, singers, comedians and film actors, who were popular in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. The group was active first from 1965 to 1966 as '' ...

: Priests * Noëlle Cordier : Isabelle de Montmorency * Mario d'Alba: King's Counsellor/Newspaper Seller/Prison Guard * Franca di Rienzo :

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the wife of Louis XVI. Born Archd ...

* Raymond Jeannot: Newspaper Seller *

Gérard Layani Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitu ...

: La Terreur (Soloist) *

Gérard Blanc Gérard Blanc (8 December 1947 – 24 January 2009) was a French singer, guitarist and actor. Life and career He began to sing in the 1970s with the band Martin Circus. Then in the 1980s, he participated in the production of Princess Stephanie ...

Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to gover ...

* Martin Circus: Members of the Tiers-État * Jean-François Michael :

Les Chouans ''Les Chouans'' (, ''The Chouans'') is an 1829 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) and included in the ''Scènes de la vie militaire'' section of his novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine''. Set in the French ...

(Soloist) * Jean-Max Rivière: Marat * Jean-Pierre Savelli: Charles Gauthier *

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

* Jean Schultheis: Antoine

Fouquier-Tinville Antoine Quentin Fouquier de Tinville (, 10 June 17467 May 1795), also called Fouquier-Tinville and nicknamed posthumously the Provider of the Guillotine was a French lawyer and accusateur public of the Revolutionary Tribunal during the French Rev ...

* Élisabeth Vigna: Madame Sans-Gêne * Système Crapoutchick: La Noblesse, La Terreur

Discography

There are two versions of this work available: the original double album as well as the triple, expanded album of the presentation at the Theatre Mogador.

First version

The recording was released as a double-vinyl album from

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

in 1973. This release contained a 16-page booklet, 12 pages of which featured cartoons incorporating the words of the songs. The disk has been re-edited several times since, in 1989, for example, to celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution.

Songlist

#''Ouverture'' - Choir #''Les États généraux (5 mai 1789) :'' #:''Le Roi'' - Louis XVI (The King) #:''La Noblesse'' - Choir (The Nobility) #:''Le Clergé'' - Choir (Clergy) #:''Le Tiers-État'' - The Members of the Tiers-État #''Charles Gauthier (mai 1789)'' - Charles Gauthier #''À Versailles (14 juillet 1789)'' - The King's children and Louis XVI ("At Versaille", 14 July 1789) #'' Retour de la Bastille : Français, Français'' - Robespierre and Choir ("The Return of the Bastille; Frenchmen, Frenchmen") #''Il s'appelle Charles Gauthier'' - Isabelle de Montmorency ("He is Called Charles Gauthier") #''À bas tous les privilèges ( nuit du 4 août 1789)'' - ChoirMartin Circus ("Down With all Privileges", night of 4 August 1789) #''

Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human and civil rights document from the French Revolution; the French title can be translated in the modern era as "Decl ...

(26 août 1789)'' - Charles Gauthier ("Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen", 26 August 1789) #''Ça ira, ça ira ! ( 5-6 octobre 1789)'' - Louis XVI, La Fayette, a counsellor and Choir ("It'll Be Fine, It'll Be Fine!", 5–6 October 1789) #''Quatre saisons pour un amour'' - Isabelle de Montmorency ("Four Seasons for a Love") #''Serment de Talleyrand (12 juillet 1789) /

Fête de la Fédération The (; ) was a massive holiday festival held throughout Kingdom of France, France in 1790 in honour of the French Revolution, celebrating the Revolution itself, as well as national unity. It commemorated the revolution and events of 1789 which ...

(14 juillet 1790)'' - Talleyrand and ChoirLes Charlots ("Oath of Talleyrand", 12 July 1789) / "Festival of the Federation", 14 July 1790) #''Crieurs de journaux ( 21 juin 1791) / La patrie est en danger (11 juillet 1792)'' - Danton and Choir ("Newspaper Sellers", 21 June 1791 / "The Fatherland is in Danger", 11 July 1792) #''L'Exil ( 10 août 1792)'' - Charles Gauthier and Isabelle de Montmorency ("Exile", 10 August 1792) #''

Valmy Valmy () is a rural Communes of France, commune in the Marne (department), Marne Departments of France, department in the Grand Est Regions of France, region in Northeastern France. In 2020, it had a population of 282. Geography The town stands ...

'' (20 septembre 1792) / '' Proclamation de la République (21 septembre 1792)'' - General Kellermann and Choir ("Valmy", 20 September 1792 / "Proclamation of the Republic", 21 September 1792) #''C'est du beau linge, mon général'' - Madame Sans-Gêne, General Bonaparte and Choir ("They're Beautiful Clothes, My General") #'' Le Procès de Louis XVI : Réquisitoire (10 décembre 1792)'' - Fouquier-Tinville ("The Trial of Louis XVI: Indictment", 10 December 1792) #'' Louis XVI / Exécution (21 janvier 1793)'' - Louis XVI and Choir ("Louis XVI" / "Execution", 21 January 1793) #''Chouans, en avant ! (juin 1793)'' - Les Chouans ("Chouans, Forward!", June 1793) #''La terreur est en nous'' - ChoirSystème Crapoutchick ("Terror is in Us") #''L'Horrible Assassinat du citoyen Marat par la perfide Charlotte Corday (13 juillet 1793)'' - Marat and Charlotte Corday ("The Horrible Assassination of Citizen Marat by the Perfidious Charlotte Corday", 13 July 1793) #''Fouquier-Tinville'' #''Au petit matin (25 vendémiaire an II / 16 octobre 1793)'' - Marie-Antoinette ("Early Morning", 25

Vendémiaire Vendémiaire () was the first month in the French Republican calendar. The month was named after the Occitan word ''vendemiaire'' 'grape harvester'. Vendémiaire was the first month of the autumn quarter (''mois d'automne''). It started on the d ...

Year II / 16 October 1793) #''Que j'aie tort ou que j'aie raison ( 16 germinal an II / 5 avril 1794)'' - Robespierre and Choir ("Whether I'm Wrong or Right", 16 Germinal Year II / 5 April 1794) #'' La Fête de l'Être suprême (20 prairial an II / 8 juin 1794)''- Robespierre and Choir ("The Festival of the Supreme Being", 20

Prairial Prairial () was the ninth month A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, that is approximately as long as a natural phase cycle of the Moon; the words ''month'' and ''Moon'' are cognates. The traditional concept of months arose with the ...

Year II / 8 June 1794) #''La Prison'' - The Prison Guard and Isabelle #''Révolution'' (final) - Charles and Isabelle The songs were distributed on the original double album as follows: *1-5 : Disc 1, side 1 *6-10 : Disc 2, side 1 (2) *11-16 : Disc 2, side 2 (3) *17-25 : Disc 1, side 2 (4)

1977 version

* The passage concerned with Charlotte Corday's assassination of Jean-Paul Marat was totally rewritten. While only a small intermezzo in the first version, it becomes an opera trio between Charlotte, Marat (who sings with a dagger in his heart) and his servant. * One new scene was added : a confrontational dialogue between Charles Gauthier and Robespierre, each verse of which is a retort of the other character.

Recordings

*1973 : Double album (LDM 30166 or LD 30166 / VG 308 430166 without booklet) *1977 : 3 disc box set (VG603 or C.V.U. 316) *1987 : First reissue on CD of 24 titres originaux (VG 651-600 146) *1989 : Special reissue for bicentennial of the French Revolution (PM 524 310 296 without booklet) *2000 : Reissue in standard and luxury editions (Anthology's B00004ZBMN)

External links

''La Révolution française'', unofficial site

''La Révolution française'', MySpace

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Revolution francaise, La Musicals by Claude-Michel Schönberg Rock operas 1973 musicals French musicals Musicals about the French Revolution Musicals set in France Musicals set in the 18th century