OPERA SEARCH
La Chanson de Fortunio (Hesse/Baller version)
(Fortunios Lied / The Song of Fortunio) (1861)Libretto by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy; new German version by Eugen Hesse and Sigurd Baller (F,G)
6S,M,buffoT,speaker;
2(II=picc).2.2.2-4.2.3.0-timp.perc-strings
Abbreviations (PDF)
Bote & Bock
Mannheim
Company: unknown
| FORTUNIO, advocate | Speaking role |
| MARIE, his wife | Soprano |
| VALENTIN, clerk of Fortunio | Buffo Tenor |
| Other clerks of Fortunio | 5 Sopranos |
| BABETTE, cook | Mezzo Soprano |
A town garden in the time of Louis XIV
In his youth Fortunio earned a certain reputation as a breaker of women's hearts. Now, after putting on many years, he jealously watches over his young wife Marie. He discovers footprints in the garden in front of her balcony and – rightly – suspects one of his clerks to be courting her. It is Valentin who has fallen in love with Marie and cannot find the courage to open his heart to her. The clerks believe the secret of Fortunio's success with women lay with a legendary love song which he sang to enchant them. Accidentally, Valentin and Paul discover the song while clearing up old files – and put it to the test…
Comic, Poetic