La Fille de Madame Angot

An opéra comique in three acts set to a libretto by Clairville, Paul Siraudin and Victor Koning, La Fille de Madame Angot was first performed at the Fantaisies-Parisiennes in Brussels on 4 December 1872. The work was then staged in Paris on 21 February 1873 at the Folies-Dramatiques. The title refers to an archetypical fictional character from the closing decades of the 18th century, that of the fishwife, featured in particular in the plays of Antoine-François Ève. In a Paris ruled by the French Directory, Clairette Angot, an orphan raised by the Dames des Halles (Parisian market women), is betrothed to the wigmaker Pomponnet. However, she is in love with Ange Pitou, a historical figure who was a journalist and singer of counter-revolutionary songs, deported to Guyana after the Coup of 18 Fructidor Year V. In addition to Pitou, the opera also introduces other historical figures, like the Vicomte de Barras, a deputy in the National Convention which voted for the execution of Louis XVI, and a key politician in the French Directory. After all kinds of romantic episodes, colourfully conveyed with numerous details intended to enhance the historical accuracy of the work—the use of a gathering of “Merveilleuses”, from the name given to the women who, in response to The Terror, adopted an extravagant style of dress inspired by Antiquity under the French Directory, political arrests, and a plot against the regime—the young heroine resigns herself to marrying her wigmaker and Pitou resolves to wait for her, counting on her lack of virtue, confident that she will follow in the footsteps of Madame Angot. The opera was a huge success and remained on the bill at the Folies-Dramatiques for over four hundred performances. It went on to tour several French towns, then all over the world. The opera is still relatively popular and continues to be part of the opera repertory.