Les cloches de Corneville
The story, set at the turn of the 18th century, depicts the return of an exiled aristocrat to his ancestral castle, the machinations of the miserly steward to secure the family's fortune for himself, and the changing amorous pairings of the four juvenile leads.
The opera was Planquette's first full-length stage work, and although he later wrote twelve more, including Rip Van Winkle, which was a hit in London, he never equalled the international success of this first venture.
According to the Académie nationale de l'opérette, Gabet and Clairville had Planquette set their libretto, which they then offered, unsuccessfully, to various managements; it was initially rejected because of its similarity to Boieldieu's La dame blanche and Flotow's Martha.
Excerpts from the score were published and sold well, with the result that Charles Cantin, manager of the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, became interested in staging the piece.
[1] The alternative account, in the Encyclopédie de l'art lyrique français, is that Cantin accepted the libretto and commissioned Hervé to set it.
The authors were unwilling to introduce additional broad comedy effects called for by Hervé, and Cantin, who liked to encourage rising talent, turned to Planquette to set the piece.
[1] The opera was first presented at the Fantaisies-Parisiennes on 19 April 1877, and ran for 596 performances,[6] taking in more than 1.6 million francs at the box office,[7] equal to about 6,700,000 euros in 2015 terms.
He discovers a letter in the castle stating that the infant Vicomtesse de Lucenay was at one time in danger and so was entrusted to Gaspard to be brought up under a false name.
Gaspard, recovering his senses, remorsefully declares that his pretended niece is the rightful Vicomtesse de Lucenay (and Serpolette simply a gypsy orphan), and so the Marquis may wed Germaine.
[14] It played for a total of 705 performances, setting a new world record for a musical theatre run, which was not overtaken until Dorothy, ten years later.
Les Annales du théâtre et de la musique commented, "M. Planquette probably thinks he has written music … but 'musiqette' would be an appropriate term.
[2] Félix Clément, in his Dictionnaire des opéras (1880), called the piece a plagiarism of Martha and La dame blanche adapted for the benefit of lovers of the suggestive.
[9] Reviewing the London production, The Theatre thought the composer gifted, although stronger in writing melodies than in harmony or orchestration; he found "his sparkling music has the effervescence of champagne".
[19] When the piece opened in Vienna a reviewer commented on the resemblance of the plot to La dame blanche and Martha, and found the music unoriginal but natural and pleasing.
[20] In Operetta: A Theatrical History (2016), Richard Traubner considers Planquette had a gift for "rhythmic variety and the pulsations that keep songs alive" but was less outstanding as a melodist, and deficient in the areas of harmony and orchestration.
[n 4] Reviewing a CD release of a recording of the work, Raymond Walker wrote, "The score just flowed with sparkling melodies, variety of rhythm, novel orchestral texture and bright colour.
The first, a mono set in 1955, featured Huguette Boulangeot (Germaine), Ernest Blanc (Henri); Jean Giraudeau (Grenicheux); Colette Riedinger (Serpolette), André Balbon (bailiff) and Louis Musy (Gaspard), with an unnamed chorus and orchestra conducted by Pierre Dervaux.
[22] A stereo set from 1973 featured Mady Mesplé (Germaine), Bernard Sinclair (Henri), Charles Burles (Grenicheux), Christiane Stutzmann (Serpolette), Jean Giraudeau (bailiff), and Jean-Christophe Benoît (Gaspard), with the chorus and orchestra of the Théâtre national de l'opéra de Paris, conducted by Jean Doussard.
