Germaine Tailleferre

4 opéras bouffes volume 2

The first piece of the cycle, La Fille d'Opéra, imitates the style of Rameau's Tragédies lyriques: Pouponne has left her native Arpajon to make it as a seamstress in Paris. In reality, she leads a rather gay life, until the rich man who kept her leaves her. Yet she does not take the break tragically, as it gives her all freedom to be with the man she loves, the chevalier Mistouflet. A series of mishaps - the unexpected visits of Pouponne's parents, the appearance of a hairdresser and a boot-maker - thwarts her plans. The lovers then resolve to flee but enters a police inspector with an order to arrest Mistouflet and take him to the Bastille because of his 'prodigality': he cannot pay Pouponne's debts! Never mind... Pouponne transfers her affections to a Milord and becomes the queen of the Opera! Le Bel Ambitieux is in the Romantic vein, imitating the style of Boieldieu, Auber and Rossini. The action takes place in Paris, as in La Fille d'opéra, but at the beginning of the 19th century, at Comtesse Clémentine de Lestourbi's Faubourg Saint-Germain home. The Comtesse has everything: beauty, wealth and a 25-year old lover, named Alphonse de Palpebral. The Comtesse herself is 23- or so she says - and her only daughter, Euphrasie, is still in the care of a wet nurse. Although it does not quite match with the real facts, the story could be plausible: Clémentine is so slim, so blond and so divine - an angel! Such is Alphonse's mindset at the beginning of the piece.