Boule-de-Neige

[4] In a letter to the press, Nuitter pointed out that he and Tréfeu originally had an idea for an opera subject after reading the August 1871 edition of the Revue britannique which had an article on the cult of animals in Scandinavia.

[6] Offenbach was busy at this time: Le roi Carotte was premiered at the Théâtre de la Gaîté a month later, and three days after that Fantasio was first seen at the Opéra-Comique.

Boule-de-Neige has attractive numbers but is generally accessible for the audience of the Bouffes, melodic and familiar in tone as opposed to the daring harmonies in Barkouf, often surprising from the composer.

[10] Two excerpts, including the Act III finale, were recorded in 2006 using an edition prepared by Jean-Christophe Keck as part of an Offenbach anthology.

[12] The hero of the opera is a white bear called “Boule-de-Neige” (snow-ball), and the work takes place in a seemingly ungovernable kingdom in Asiatic Russia.

The first act is set in a market-place where the glazier Kachmir and fur merchant Schamyl meet and discuss their loves, respectively the bear-trainer Olga and Grégorine, daughter of the senior minister Balabrelock.