Le Pont des soupirs

Venice was the archetypal source of inspiration for the Romantics. However… when Offenbach turned his attention to the city, he ruthlessly demythologised it in his operetta Le Pont des soupirs (1861), putting paid to the poetry of its barcarolles as well as the magical charm of its carnival. He replaced these instead with frenzied boleros, anachronistic yodelling and music-hall songs. In this operetta, the exemplary policies of the Doges in general, and those of Catarina Cornaro in particular, become capricious whim, cowardice and betrayal. Le Pont des soupirs was premiered in 1861. The work was based on a farcical libretto by Crémieux and Halévy, the successful team behind Orphée aux enfers. A second version appeared in 1868. The operetta was very popular in both forms, being staged from Vienna to Buenos Aires. The action takes place in the lagoon city in 1321: the Doge Cornarini has returned miserably—and anonymously—from a naval defeat. He discovers that his wife Catarina is adulterous, having been seduced by young Amoroso, although she is also desired by the cruel Malatromba. A skilled rhetorician, the latter has been appointed as the substitute Doge. Countless hilarious adventures end in a competition to decide between the two Doges. Each version of the operetta has its own ending: the first version sees Cornarino emerge victorious, while the second hands the keys of the city over to Malatromba.