420:
Boisrobert. He takes her aside and tells her
Gilbert's story. Sylvia exclaims that she had bought the house of Valentine's uncle after his death. Boisrobert then proposes a plan. Sylvia is to pose as Valentine and marry Gilbert, thus winning her bet and letting Boisrobert off the hook. She agrees to the ruse, and the Baron de Corisandre agrees to pose as her uncle despite the fact that he is desperately in love with Sylvia himself. Boisrobert introduces Sylvia as Valentine to Gilbert who falls at her feet professing his undying love. Boisrobert, still ignorant of who she is, then suggests to the real Valentine that she become the paid companion of Sylvia and go to Paris with her. Amazed by this turn of events and determined to get to the bottom of it, Valentine agrees to Boisrobert's suggestion and tells him that her name is "Henriette".
405:
161:
424:"Valentine" of the letters with the gaiety and flirtatiousness of Sylvia, the woman he believes to be Valentine. She does not behave at all like a well-bred orphan recently bereft of her uncle. Sylvia eventually realizes that despite her love for him, she is not the right woman for Gilbert and decides to reveal the ruse. However, the real Valentine reveals it to Gilbert before Sylvia can, and she and Gilbert marry.
240:
37:
388:
region, stops at an inn in
Fontainebleau on his way to Paris. He plans to marry Valentine d'Aubigny whom he has not seen in the ten years since their engagement at the age of fifteen. He believes she is now an orphan living in Paris with her uncle. Unbeknownst to him, Valentine is also staying at the
423:
After the first act, the action shifts to Paris where Sylvia has fallen in love with
Gilbert. He too is in love with her primarily because of the wonderful letters she sends him daily. Unbeknownst to him, the letters are actually written by the real Valentine. He has a difficult time reconciling the
392:
At the inn, Gilbert encounters a half-crazed adventurer, the
Chevalier de Boisrobert, who begins by ridiculing Gilbert's horse and then Gilbert himself. Gilbert challenges him to duel, but as the fight is about to begin, breakfast is served and Boisrobert suggests they postpone it until after they
230:
The
Parisian music publisher Jules Heinz brought out several adaptations and extracts from the score, including its overture and 13 of its arias arranged for solo voice and piano by Auguste Charlot. However, despite its success with the audience on the opening night when Halévy was called to the
427:
In the final scene, Gilbert and the real
Valentine return to Sylvia's house, where Gilbert announces their marriage to her. He bids farewell to Sylvia and looks back at her one last time before leaving with Valentine. Baron de Corisandre rubs his hands in glee while Sylvia collapses in a chair
419:
Meanwhile, ignorant of who she really is, Boisrobert had fallen in love with
Valentine the previous day. When she appears at breakfast, he makes advances to her. Gilbert has no idea who she is either but rushes to her defense. As the men are about to draw swords, Sylvia arrives in pursuit of
225:
The score is one of M. Halevy's best. It is written with care and a remarkable delicacy. We warmly applauded many pieces. There's nothing in there that is banal, petty, 'Parisian'. It is the music of a
112:
and Paris at the beginning of the 18th century and revolves around mistaken identities and the machinations of the
Chevalier de Boisrobert and Sylvia, an actress at the
908:
127:
was first and only time that Halévy used a libretto by
Barbier and Carré, who went on to co-write several libretti for operas by other composers including
428:
weeping for her lost love. Boisrobert opens a door to the garden and tells Sylvia to listen. A group of actors from the theatre are heard singing:
393:
have had their coffee. Over breakfast, he recounts to
Gilbert that he has run away from Paris to escape marrying Sylvia, a popular actress at the
135:. It was also the last opéra comique composed by Halévy. He completed only one more stage work before his death in 1862, the five-act grand opera
401:
with her comrades at the theatre that she would be married within the month and is now demanding that Boisrobert either marry her or pay up.
676:
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detracted somewhat from the score which had several distinguished pieces and singled out Gilbert's aria "Comme deux oiseaux", Sylvia's
883:
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in the opéra comique genre. (Scribe had written the libretti for several of Halévy's earlier works in the genre, including
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was superior to Barbier and Carré's libretto echoed that of the critic Paul Scudo in his review of the 1856 premiere for
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181:. He described the libretto as a "mediocre fable" and compared Barbier and Carré's work unfavorably to that of
584:
209:
Thank God, M. Halévy's music has enough power and charm to almost make us forget the nonsense of the piece.
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898:
724:
116:, who try but ultimately fail to prevent the marriage of Gilbert de Mauléon and Valentine d'Aubigny.
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816:
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stage by their applause, the opera does not appear to have been revived after its initial run.
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inn. Her uncle has died, and she is travelling from Paris to stay with other relatives.
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We must not believe in long-lasting love! We must laugh and drink and sing all day!
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described the libretto as a "monster" which defied all logic, but concluded:
197:.) The assessments from other critics excerpted in the 8 May 1856 edition of
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Gilbert de Mauléon, a handsome but naive young aristocrat from the
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633:
281:
128:
397:, to whom he has unwisely become engaged. Sylvia had bet 1000
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716:
296:
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Caroline Duprez, who created the role of Valentine d'Aubigny
610:"Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra-Comique: Valentine d'Aubigny"
365:
Actors and actresses of the Théâtre-Italien, servants
157:, and Chevalier Boisrobert's aria "Un amoureux".
875:
458:, pp. 44; 421–422. Cambridge Scholars Publishing
104:. It premiered in Paris on 26 April 1856 at the
408:Early 18th-century depiction of actors in the
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108:(2° Salle Favart). The comic story is set in
540:Catalogue de Jules Heinz, Ă©diteur de musique
477:Dictionnaire lyrique, ou Histoire des operas
201:were much in the same vein. The critic from
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909:Opera world premieres at the Opéra-Comique
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663:
554:
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558:Barbier, Jules and Carré, Michel (1856).
171:Their assessment that Halévy's music for
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302:Toussaint-Eugène-Ernest Mocker
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258:Premiere cast, 26 April 1856
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492:Scudo, Paul (1 June 1856).
455:Opéra-Comique: A Sourcebook
372:
293:Le Chevalier de Boisrobert
149:that the "bizarre" plot of
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925:
884:Operas by Fromental Halévy
608:Lovy, Jules (4 May 1856).
450:Letellier, Robert Ignatius
308:Sylvia, an actress at the
106:Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique
92:in three acts composed by
73:Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique
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585:Dwight's Journal of Music
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43:
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23:
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272:Charles-Amable Battaille
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120:Background and reception
725:Le dilettante d'Avignon
326:Le Baron de Corisandre
62:26 April 1856
889:French-language operas
592:, Vol. 9 No. ll, p. 84
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244:
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744:(1833, completion of
709:Le Roi et le batelier
590:"Music Abroad: Paris"
564:. Michel Lévy Frères
499:Revue des deux Mondes
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178:Revue des deux Mondes
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860:(1885, completed by
833:Jaguarita l'Indienne
278:Valentine d'Aubigny
147:Dictionnaire lyrique
145:wrote in their 1869
841:Valentine d'Aubigny
640:Valentine D'Aubigny
561:Valentine d'Aubigny
480:, p. 688. Larousse
263:Gilbert de Mauléon
203:La Presse théâtrale
151:Valentine d'Aubigny
125:Valentine d'Aubigny
85:Valentine d'Aubigny
19:Valentine D'Aubigny
785:La reine de Chypre
644:Journal des débats
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219:Journal des débats
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871:
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632:Complete copy of
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320:Caroline Lefebvre
199:Le Guide Musicale
96:to a libretto by
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809:Le val d'Andorre
769:Guido et Ginevra
686:Fromental Halévy
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588:(14 June 1856).
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494:"Revue Musicale"
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470:Clément, Félix;
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29:Fromental Halévy
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894:1856 operas
650:(in French)
636:'s lengthy
618:(in French)
566:(in French)
545:(in French)
528:(in French)
504:(in French)
482:(in French)
878:Categories
793:Charles VI
638:review of
616:, pp. 1–2
437:References
346:Zoé Bélia
254:Voice type
66:1856-04-26
44:Librettist
777:Le shérif
701:L'artisan
377:Setting:
188:Le shérif
173:Valentine
825:Le nabab
761:L'Ă©clair
753:La Juive
524:"France"
474:(1873).
452:(2010).
386:CĂ©vennes
373:Synopsis
343:soprano
337:Marion,
194:Le nabab
143:Larousse
58:Premiere
741:Ludovic
642:in the
634:Berlioz
543:(1860)
526:, p. 2
414:Lancret
351:Julie,
282:soprano
226:master.
75:, Paris
64: (
904:Operas
852:(1858)
844:(1856)
836:(1855)
828:(1853)
820:(1852)
812:(1847)
804:(1844)
796:(1843)
788:(1841)
780:(1839)
772:(1838)
764:(1835)
756:(1835)
748:opera)
746:HĂ©rold
736:(1832)
728:(1829)
720:(1828)
712:(1827)
704:(1827)
693:Operas
165:Halévy
155:bolero
129:Gounod
88:is an
862:Bizet
717:Clari
399:Louis
329:bass
297:tenor
250:Role
235:Roles
267:bass
191:and
131:and
100:and
50:and
857:Noé
412:by
27:by
880::
612:.
597:^
572:^
551:^
510:^
496:.
463:^
864:)
678:e
671:t
664:v
68:)
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