Le Petit Duc

An opéra-comique in three acts set to a libretto by Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac, Le Petit Duc was first performed at the Théâtre de la Renaissance on 25 January 1878. The work tells the story of the romance between Raoul de Parthenay and Blanche de Cambry, married at fifteen, then separated because of their young age. Raoul leaves for war while Blanche returns to her boarding school. Anxious to be reunited with the woman he loves, the young Duke meets up with Blanche again, first at the head of his army, with which he threatens to mount an attack, then masquerading as a peasant woman—a disguise that allows him to enter the boarding school secretly. But war is raging and Raoul must again leave his ladylove. They are not to be separated for long, however: after an unlikely turnaround, the fighting comes to an end, Blanche escapes and is reunited with her husband. Apart from a plot which is highly improbable at times, the work lovingly depicts the transition from childhood to adulthood. Adolescent desire knows no bounds and although Raoul’s ardour may raise a smile, it is also a sign that he is taking his first steps in the world, which is nonetheless very moving. Lecocq composed some thoroughly light-hearted, sparkling music for this libretto. The authors also delighted in alluding to the opera tradition of their time through a series of intertextual references which add to the work’s witty appeal. Young Raoul’s disguise recalls that of Comte d’Ory, and the opera abounds in elements such as cherubs straight out of the Marriage of Figaro, a singing lesson borrowed from Auber’s L’Ambassadrice, or a schoolmaster worthy of Hervé’s Le Petit Faust. After the hugely popular Madame Angot, Lecocq again won over Parisian audiences with this opera which, however, was not as successful as his first great hit: it sank into total oblivion, only to be revived by a few very recent productions.