Lischen et Fritzchen

Libretto by Paul Boisselot and Poly Henrion (= Leonhard Kohl von Kohlenegg) (F,G)

S,T;
2(II=picc).2.2.2-2.2.3.0-timp.perc-strings

A street corner with a wine bar, 19th century

Fritzchen, though an Alsatian, has been sacked because of his poor French. But the inhabitants of Alsace do have their problems with the hard and the soft ‘p’. In front of the bar he meets Lischen, who is unhappy because she has not yet sold a single broom that day. Lischen believes that Fritzchen is parodying her accent and making fun of her, but then she recognizes him as a fellow countryman. Their joy, already great, turns into an even bigger surprise when it turns out that he is her brother who left home ten years ago. Fritzchen is sad, for he had instantly fallen in love with Lischen, and now they cannot marry "because there is a law! Though it is stupid, it is like that!" But Lady Fortune once more steps in benignly and produces a letter from their father, saying that they are only half-siblings. Now the song goes: "We travel together and stay with each other..."

Comic, Romantic