Gillette de Narbonne

Gillette de Narbonne is an opéra comique in three acts, with music by Edmond Audran and words by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot.

The replacement for La mascotte, Varney's Coquelicot, made little impression, and Cantin turned again to Audran and his regular librettists, Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot.

[2] They wrote for a cast largely familiar from their earlier work, including the mezzo-soprano Marie Montbazon, the tenor Charles Lamy and the baritone Louis Morlet.

The king promises his young physician the gift she most wishes for in reward for her services, and Gillette replies that since coming to court she has met her old companion, Count Roger, and would like above else to marry him.

He leaves Gillette a note saying that he will never recognise her as his wife until the day when she can show him the ring he now bears on his finger, and present him with a child of which he is the acknowledged father.

Act II An inn near Naples, a month later Roger is accompanied by Olivier, King René's handsome son, who has come to Italy in search of action, both military and amatory.

Act III The castle of the Counts of Lignolles in Provence Ten months later, Gillette is now the mother of a vigorous baby boy.

[7] The plot was bowdlerised to accommodate Victorian British sensibilities: the disguised Gillette merely trysts with her husband, and obtains the ring with no hint of the bedroom.

[10] The most recent production in Paris was in 1935 (with Fanély Revoil and André and Suzanne Baugé), although the work remained in the repertoire of provincial theatres in France for many years after that.

The reviewer felt that the words "pretentious" and "banal" were perhaps too strong, but expressed disappointment, having expected better and more original work from Audran and his collaborators.