La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein) is an opéra bouffe (a form of operetta), in three acts and four tableaux by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.
Schneider, in addition to her vocal gifts, was well able to portray the commanding and saucy character of the Grand Duchess, which parodied Catherine the Great.
[2] The April 1867 premiere was an immediate hit, and a parade of European royalty, drawn to Paris by the Exposition, attended performances of the operetta.
Among those attending were French emperor Napoleon III; the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom; Tsar Alexander II of Russia and his son Grand Duke Vladimir; Franz-Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary; Otto von Bismarck, the Prime Minister of Prussia; and other crowned heads, generals, and ministers.
[5] The opera was first performed at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris on 12 April 1867 and starred Hortense Schneider as the Duchess, who was highly successful in the title role.
The singers for Santa Fe included Huguette Tourangeau in the title role in 1972, and Donald Gramm and Richard Stilwell in both 1971 and 1972.
[25] A 1978 production was given at the Collegiate Theatre in London, produced by Park Lane Opera, starring Patricia Routledge and David Hillman, and conducted by Vilém Tauský.
[29] The first performance of the Keck critical edition, which restored Offenbach's orchestration and opened the many cuts which had occurred in the score over the years, in particular to the long Act II finale, was given by Opéra du Rhin at the Strasbourg Théâtre Municipal in December 2003, conducted by Jérôme Pillemont.
[32][33] Los Angeles Opera produced the piece in 2005, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume and starring Frederica von Stade, in a new version adapted and directed by Garry Marshall.
She has been betrothed to the foppish Prince Paul but does not find him to her liking and, owing to her being in an unhappy state of mind over the affair, the Baron generates a war to amuse her.
Instead of assassinating Fritz, the Duchess devises the lesser punishment of noisy serenades during his wedding night, and then hurries him off on a false alarm to fight the enemy.
[38] Among the recordings of the work, critics have praised a 1977 CBS issue conducted by Michel Plasson with Régine Crespin as the Grand Duchess.
[39] An older mono recording under René Leibowitz with Eugenia Zareska, though heavily cut, was well received when reissued on compact disc in 1982.
