OPERA SEARCH
Croquefer ou Le Dernier des paladins (OEK critical edition)
(Ritter Eisenfraß oder Der letzte Paladin / Munchiron or The Last of the Paladins) (1857)Libretto by Adolphe Jaime and Etienne Tréfeu; new German version; new English version by Richard Duployen (F,G,E)
S,3T,Bar;
2(II=picc).1.2.1-2.2.1.0-timp.perc-strings
Abbreviations (PDF)
Bote & Bock
Paris
Company: unknown
| CROQUEFER (MUNCHIRON), an immodest and faithless knight | Tenor |
| BOUTEFEU (FIRESTONE), his squire, stubborn servant | Tenor |
| MOUSSE-À-MOZRT (BEAT-TO-DEATH), knight, incomplete | Baritone |
| FLEUR-DE-SOUFRE (SULPHURBLOSSOM), his daughter | Soprano |
| RAMASSE-TA-TÊTE (SKULLSMASHER), nobleman, Munchiron's nephew | Tenor |
| Armed men, female cooks |
Platform of a half-ruined tower. In former times
Munchiron, a knight of very sorrowful countenance, swallows his last remaining sabre. He will probably not need it any longer: his enemy Beat-to-Death, whose daughter Sulphurblossom he has taken away, is likely to fight only to a very limited degree, for in the battle against the unbelievers he has already lost a number of crucial body parts, among them his tongue. When Beat-to-Death nevertheless throws down the gauntlet, Munchiron's nephew Skullsmasher appears to save him. Munchiron offers Beat-to-Death two alternatives: either Sulphurblossom will be killed or she will marry him. The forced reconciliation is achieved, though it is sabotaged by subversive elements on both sides. The wine has been poisoned – accidentally with castor oil. The deployment of the troops heralds a collective bout of diarrhoea, in the course of which Munchiron's sabre and Beat-to-Death's tongue are rediscoverd. It all ends happily with the composer and his librettist sending their greetings from the lunatic asylum.
Comic