Le testament de la tante Caroline

The operetta tells the story of a family who is caught in a difficult set of circumstances surrounding the contents of a will and the dispersal of a vast fortune.

Roussel acknowledged that the works of composers Arthur Honegger and Jacques Ibert had influenced him to pursue writing a comic opera as they had been successful both critically and financially.

Although Roussel intended for the work to be "clear, pleasant and accessible", the critics felt he had difficulty in "adapting himself to simplicity".

[2] The operetta begins in a Paris apartment where the future heirs of Aunt Caroline's vast wealth are waiting for the reading of her will.

A third niece, who is an old maid and an apparent model of respectability and virtue, reveals that she is in fact the mother of the family's chauffeur, Noël.