Le déserteur (opera)

Le déserteur (French pronunciation: [lə dezɛʁtœʁ], The Deserter) is a drame mélé de musique (opéra comique) by the French composer Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny with a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine.

It was first performed on 6 March 1769 by the Comédie-Italienne at their public theatre, the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris.

The work was Monsigny's greatest musical success and is one of the key operas of late 18th-century French opéra comique.

It was performed in Amsterdam (1769), Copenhagen (1770), Germany in German translation (1770: Hamburg and Brunswick; 1771: Frankfurt), London on 2 November 1773 in an English version by Charles Dibdin, who added music of his own and two numbers by Philidor, and was performed in New York City on 8 June 1787 in French and in Philadelphia on 11 July 1787 in English (London version).

On the orders of her father, she plays a trick on him by pretending she is going to marry her cousin Bertrand instead.