La Basoche

André Messager
Operas François les bas-bleus (1883) La fauvette du temple (1885) La Béarnaise (1885) Le bourgeois de Calais (1887) Isoline (1888) Le mari de la reine (1889) La Basoche (1890) Madame Chrysanthème (1893) Mirette (1894) Le chevalier d'Harmental (1896) Les p'tites Michu (1897) Véronique (1898) Fortunio (1907) Béatrice (1914) Monsieur Beaucaire (1919) La petite fonctionnaire (1921) L'amour masqué (1923) Passionnément (1926) Coups de roulis (1928)

La Basoche is an opéra comique in three acts of 1890, with music by André Messager and a French libretto by Albert Carré.^[1]

History

Messager's 1889 opérette Le mari de la reine at Bouffes-Parisiens was a disappointment, and the composer and his wife were struggling to afford even basic necessities until he found success with La Basoche.^[2] The title of the operetta refers to the old Parisian guild of law clerks that was abolished with the French revolution in the 18th century.

La Basoche was first performed at the Opéra-Comique (Salle du Théâtre Lyrique, place du Châtelet), Paris, on 30 May 1890 and was initially given on 51 nights.^[2] It was revived there up to the Second World War and given at least another 150 performances, with Jean Périer, André Baugé playing Clément Marot and Lucien Fugère repeating the role of the duke. Messager himself conducted the 1900, 1902 and 1919 productions at the Opéra-Comique.^[3] In 1908 the work also entered the repertoire of the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris, the cast including Fernand Francell, and Fugère.

It was presented in London in 1891 in an English translation by Augustus Harris and Eugène Oudin at Richard D'Oyly Carte's Royal English Opera House (today's Palace Theatre), running from 3 November 1891 to 16 January 1892. Carré and Messager were present at the opening night and took curtain calls along with the conductor, François Cellier. Stage direction was by Hugh Moss, and the cast included David Bispham (alternating with Wallace Brownlow) as the Duke, Ben Davies (and Joseph O'Mara) as Clément Marot, Charles Kenningham as Jehan L'Eville, Frederick Bovill as the Chancellor and John Le Hay as Guillot.^[4] The success of La Basoche led Carte to produce Messager's Mirette in 1894.^[5]

La Basoche was produced in New York at the Casino Theatre in a new translation in 1893, conducted by Gustave Kerker.^[6] In April 1919 it was seen at the Théâtre Français in Montréal.

Roles

Synopsis

The action takes place in Paris in 1514.

Act 1

Programme for the first London production, 1891

A square near the Châtelet, on the right the tavern du Plat d’Etain. The day of the election of the king of the basochians.

The poet Clément Marot puts himself forward against the pedant Roland (in a poem "Oui, de rimes je fais moisson"). As the king of the basochians is required to be a bachelor, he hides the existence of a wife, Colette, whom he has left behind in Chevreuse. When she arrives in Paris he pretends not to know her – but tells her secretly that he will rejoin her soon. She gets herself taken on at the tavern, where the next day the widowed Louis XII will receive his new young wife, Mary of England, the sister of Henry VIII. The same Mary now arrives incognito, disguised as a Norman, accompanied by the Duc de Longueville. When the procession of the king of the Basoche comes along, Colette takes Marot to be the real king, while Mary thinks that the man is her husband.

Act 2

Evening – a large room in the Plat d’Etain tavern.

While clerks party, and Roland hopes to unmask Marot and his wife, Colette, at work, dreams of her future life as a queen. In a duet, both Marie and Colette declare their love for the 'king'. The Duke returns from the royal palace where he has announced the arrival of Mary, who sends him off to request the 'king' attend her for dinner, and then goes off to get ready to receive him. Marot reaffirms his love for Colette, but Mary returns and sees the one she thinks is to be her husband; Colette begins to serve them dinner.

Roland’s party burst in to reveal Marot’s existing marriage, but it is Mary who says that she is the wife of the king and the duke who in turn says that he is Mary’s wife. After everyone else has left, the king’s entourage arrive – only for Colette to receive them, and be taken to the Hôtel des Tournelles.

Act 3

The Hotel de Tournelles

Louis XII greets Colette, who cannot believe that the old man is her husband. Believing that he has been deceived, the King decides to send Longueville and Colette to England; alone, the duke thinks that the young woman loves him. The cortege of the Basoche passes by the palace, and the two women realise who their 'king' was. Colette consoles herself with the thought that she will have Clément back, Marie disappointed, finding the false king more charming than the real one.

The duke suddenly realizes what has happened, and wants Marot arrested, but it is Roland, now the Basoche king, who is taken. Convinced that he will hang, Marot makes his farewell, but he is pardoned by Louis, and leaves Paris with Colette, while Louis marries Marie.^[8]

Musical numbers

Act 1

• Introduction
• "C’est aujourd’hui que la Basoche" (Ensemble)
• "Je suis aimé de la plus belle" (Clément)
• "En attendant l’heure de la bataille" (Guillot)
• "Quand tu connaîtra Colette" (Clément)
• "Midi, c’est l’heure qui nous ramène" (Chorus)
• "Volage? Lui? Clément?" (Colette)
• "Bonjour ami" (Colette, Clément, Roland, L’Eveillé, Chorus)
• "Dans ce grand Paris" (L’Eveillé)
• "Nous reposer? C’est impossible Altesse" (Longueville, Marie)
• "Trop lourd est le poids du veuvage" (Longueville)
• Finale I " Vive le Roi!" (Chorus, Clément, Marie, Guillot, Colette)

Act 2

• "A vous, belles maîtresses" (Chorus)
• "Voici le guet qui passe" (Ensemble)
• "Si, de la souveraineté" (Marie, Colette)
• "Ah! Colette, c’est toi? " Clément, Colette
• "A table! auprès de moi" (Marie, Clément, Colette)
• "Eh! que ne parliez-vous?" (Longueville)
• "Il faut agir adroitement " (Ensemble)
• "Nous accourons, au lever du soleil" (Ensemble)

Act 3

• "Jour de liesse et de réjouissance?" (Chorus, Louis, l’écuyer)
• "En honneur de notre hyménée" (Colette, Louis)
• "Elle m’aime" (Longueville)
• Romance and trio (Marie, Longueville, Colette)
• "A ton amour simple et sincère" (Clément)
• Finale III " Arrêtez! s’il s’agit d’être pendu" (Ensemble)

Recordings

Various extracts were recorded in during the 1920s and 30s (including some by Fugère).

A complete French radio broadcast of July 1960, with Nadine Sautereau, Camille Maurane, Irene Jaumillot and Louis Noguera, conducted by Tony Aubin, was subsequently issued on CD.

Extended excerpts were recorded in 1961, featuring Liliane Berton, Nicole Broissin, Henri Legay and Michel Dens, conducted by Jacques Pernoo.

References