Le roi Carotte

Le roi Carotte (French pronunciation: [lə ʁwa kaʁɔt], King Carrot) is a 4-act opéra-bouffe-féerie with music by Jacques Offenbach and libretto by Victorien Sardou, after E. T. A. Hoffmann.

Staging the piece required elaborate costumes and grand spectacle, including a wide range of locations and numerous scene changes.

[1] The first run lasted 195 performances,[2] making a daily profit of 3,000 francs, and introducing Anna Judic in a principal operetta role.

[7] The production, which included Christophe Mortagne in the title role, Julie Boulianne as Robin-Leuron, Yann Beuron as Fridolin and Antoinette Dennenfeld, conducted by Victor Aviat was broadcast on radio and television and was widely praised.

[8] "Le Roi Carotte" in this production won "Best Rediscovered Work" in the International Opera Awards 2016.

At a brasserie, King Fridolin XXIV, disguised as a student, explains to his chief ministers that the frivolous behaviour of his youth has all but bankrupted the kingdom.

He decides he will marry her and she leaves for the palace anticipating life in a kingdom that governs its people by festivities and spectacles.

Robin-Luron arrives, claiming students have secret knowledge of hidden places, and magically completes her embroidery work.

They continue their flirtation and everyone prepares to dance until the scene is interrupted by the entrance of a stranger with a large escort accompanied by bizarre music.

Carotte sings an aria explaining his nature, the sovereign of a subterranean realm, who enjoys himself by making fools of mankind.

Fridolin, accompanied by his faithful followers Truck, Pipertrunck, Rosée du soir and Robin-Luron, reaches the old magician Kiribibi to ask for his assistance in breaking Coloquinte's spell.

King Carotte is met by some peddlers (Robin-Luron, Pipertrunck and Rosée du soir in disguise) looking for Fridolin, who has disappeared, but they cannot find him in the palace.

Fridolin and his band find themselves in the middle of an uprising against King Carotte because of rising prices and injustice.