Adolf Fredrik Lindblad (1801−1878)

Frondörerna eller En dag under partistriderna i Paris år 1649. Historisk komedi med sång i 3 Akter [The Rebels or A day during the fighting in Paris between royals and parliamentalists in 1649. Historical comedy with song in 3 acts]

Print
  • Year of composition: 1823-35; According to a letter from Lindblad to Malla Silfverstolpe the work was revised after the first performances in 1835 (he added the ballets and more) and was republished in February 1836.
  • Work category: Operetta / Comic opera
  • Text author: According to the libretto: 'Arrangement after "La maison du Rempart, ou une Journée de la Fronde" av [by] Mélesville' (pseudonym for Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier). Translation to Swedish by N. J. Cervin-Steenhoff.
  • First performed: 'Performed at the Royal Opera for the first time on the 11 May 1835' (according to the libretto)

    According to the libretto: M:ll Ch. Ficker (Hertiginnan af Longueville [Duchess af Longueville]), Mr Habicht (Markis de Jarsay [Marquess de Jarsay]), Mr Almlöf (De Bellievre), Mr L. Kinmanson (Mathieu), Mlle Westerdahl (Didier), Mlle M. Ficker / [later] Mlle J. Lind (Georgette), Mr F. Kinmanson (Perinet), Mr Håkansson (Alain), Mrs Bock (Martine)
  • Duration: Approx. 120-180 min
  • Detailed duration: 3 hours (according to the opera poster of 1835)

Instrumentation

3*.2.2.2 / 2.2.3**.0 / timp / str
(picc, alto tbn, bass tbn)
[N:o 22, Finale, requires 3 flautists]

Solo voices/choir

Hertiginnan af Longueville, syster till prinsen af Condé [Duchess af Longueville, the Prince of Condé’s sister] (soprano)
Markis de Jarsay, kapten vid gardet [Marquess de Jarsay, Captain of the guards] (tenor)
de Bellievre, parlaments-president [President of the parliament] (spoken role)
Mathieu, klädeshandlare [Clothes dealer] (bass)
Didier, hans son [his son] (soprano)
Georgette, hans brorsdotter [his niece] (soprano)
Perinet, sekreterare, löjtnant vid ett borgare-kompani [clerk, lieutenant at a company of burghers] (bass)
Alain, Mathieu's trädgårdsmästare [Mathieu’s gardener] (baritone)
Martine, Mathieu's hushållerska [Mathieu’s housekeeper] (alto)

Frondörer, Hoffolk, Parlaments-ledamöter, Mathieu's grannar och vänner, Soldater, Folk [Rebels, Courtiers and Ladies-in-waiting, Members of parliament, Mathieu’s neighbours and friends, Soldiers, People]

Soloists: 3 sopranos (Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Didier, Georgette), 1 alto (Martine), 1 tenor (Markisen [The Marquess]), 1 baritone (Alain), 2 basses (Mathieu, Perinet), 1 spoken role (de Bellievre)

Choir: Male choir (T.B.B., T.T.B.), Mixed choir (S.S.T.B.)

Examples of printed editions

The libretto was printed by Isaac Marcus, Stockholm 1860 (included as no. 63 in Teater. Första samlingen. [Theatre. First collection] 61-70; D 872:3 at Musik- och teaterbiblioteket (together with other works in D 872:1-10)
The libretto is also included in Ivar Hallström's piano reduction, Abr. Hirsch, ed. no. 952 (according to Boltenstern dated 1860)

Location for score and part material

Handwritten parts, score in autograph, printed libretto and piano reduction (including libretto) at Musik- och teaterbiblioteket.

  • Location autograph: Musik- och teaterbiblioteket
  • Possible call no. and autograph comment: Operetter [Operettas] F 25 (score)

Literature

Boltenstern, Thomas: 'Frondörerna och Kungliga Teatern 1823−58' (Musikvetenskapliga institutionen, Stockholms universitet, HT 1975 [Department of Musicology, Stockholm University, autumn 1975])
Sainte-Aulaire, 'Histoire de la Fronde' (1827; 2nd ed. 1860), Chéruel, 'Histoire de France pendant la minorité de Louis XIV' (1879−80), and
Challamel, 'Histoire anecdotique de la Fronde' (1860)

Description of work

The plot takes place in Paris, in Mathieu’s house by the rampart near Porte-Neuve.

Overture: Adagio D major 4/4 (C)

Act I
The stage represents a room in Mathieu’s house.

Scene 1: When the curtain rises, Georgette is making balls of yarn and Martine is spinning. Didier is drilling. Alain enters, occupies himself with basket weaving. Didier, Georgette, Martine, Alain [Nos. 1, 2, 3]
Scene 2: Mathieu enters. Alaine and Martine leave. Also Georgette leaves. De förre [The above], Mathieu [No. 4]
Scene 3: Mathieu leaves. De förre [The above] (except Georgette)
Scene 4: Didier alone
Scene 5: The Duchess (masked) enters. They leave. Didier, Hertiginnan [The Duchess] [No. 5]
Scene 6: The Marquess (masked) enters. Markisen [The Marquess]
Scene 7: Mathieu enters. Mathieu, Markisen [The Marquess][No. 6]
Scene 8: Georgette enters. De förre [The above], Georgette [No. 7]
Scene 9: Georgette alone. Perinet outside. Georgette, Perinet
Scene 10: Georgette, Perinet
Scene 11: Georgette leaves. De förre [The above], Mathieu
Scene 12: Perinet asks Mathieu to add his name on a list of Rebels who have contributed to the restistance against Cardinal Mazarin. Mathieu, Perinet
Scene 13: Choir (behind the stage). Mathieu signs the list. De förre [The above], Georgette, Markisen [The Marquess] [No. 8]
The curtain falls.


Act II
The stage represents a combined orangey and drawing room at Mathieu’s.

Scene 1: Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Didier, Alain [No. 9]
Scene 2: The Duchess alone. Hertiginnan [The Duchess] [No. 10]
Scene 3: Didier enters. Georgette enters. Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Didier, Georgette [No. 11]
Scene 4: Georgette screams. De förre [The above], Georgette
Scene 5: Didier and Georgette rush out. De förre [The above], Hertiginnan (i kabinettet) [The Duchess (in the cabinet], Mathieu, Markisen [The Marquess]
Scene 6: The Marquess leaves. Mathieu, Markisen [The Marquess]
Scene 7: Mathieu (Alain, Chor [Choir]) [No. 12]
Scene 8: Mathieu, The President, Rebels and Courtiers enter, masked. They take off their masks. Mathieu, Presidenten [The President], Fröndörer [Rebels], Hofmän [Courtiers]
Scene 9: All sit down. Silence. De förre [The above], Markisen [The Marquess]
Scene 10: One of the Rebels present the list for the Marquess, who notices Mathieu’s name. The Marquess instructs Mathieu to write a negotiable instrument, which he does. All rise. The President leaves. De förre [The above], Hertiginnan [The Duchess]
Scene 11: Mathieu leaves. De förre [The above] (except Presidenten [The President])
Scene 12: All sign the treaty. The Duchess enters. All Rebels put on their masks. De förre [The above] (except Mathieu), Didier [No. 13, 13 1/2]
Scene 13: All leave. De förre [The above], Hertiginnan [The Duchess]
Scene 14: A large, well-lit ballroom. A lot of masks.
Ballet (not included in the score or piano reduction)
There is a bang and soon thereafter three cannon shots at a distance. Loud noise outside. Mathieu, Georgette, Markisen [The Marquess], Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Didier, Frondörerna (maskerade) [The Rebels (masked)]
Scene 15: More noise outside. De förre [The above], Mathieu, Georgette, Alain
Scene 16: Men and Women in ball costumes. Soldiers enter, led by Perinet. De förre [The above], Perinet, Soldater [Soldiers], Folk [People] [No. 14]
The curtain falls.


Act III
The stage represents Mathieu’s garden. To the right there is a wall, which is part of the rampart at Porte Neuve. Dawn.

Scene 1: The Duchess enters, as does Georgette. Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Georgette [No. 15]
Scene 2: Didier comes running. The Duchess takes off her coat and passes it, along with her mask, to Didier. De förre [The above], Didier
Scene 3: The Marquess enters. The Duchess hides behind a tree, but he notices Didier who speaks with a distorted voice. The Marquess leaves. De förre [The above], Markisen [The Marquess] [No. 16]
Scene 4: The Duchess and Georgette appear. They leave. Didier, Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Georgette [No. 17]
Scene 5: Didier alone. [No. 18]
Scene 6: The Marquess and Mathieu come out of the house. They re-enter. Didier, Markisen [The Marquess], Mathieu
Scene 7: The Duchess enters, dressed as Didier. Didier, Hertiginnan [The Duchess] (Alain)
Scene 8: Mathieu enters. The Marquess whispers in Didier’s ear, who passes on the password to the Duchess. She puts something in Mathieu’s pocket and climbes over the wall. Didier leaves. De förre [The above], Mathieu, Markisen [The Marquess] [No. 20]
Scene 9: Mathieu is on the stage, the Marquess on the wall. The Guard is heard outside. Silence. A gunshot. Exhausted, Mathieu falls on the stairs leading to the house. Drum rolls. The Marquess quickly come down from the wall. Alain leaves. Mathieu, Markisen [The Marquess], Alain, Skyltvakten [The Guard]
Scene 10: Perinet enters, followed by a torch bearer. Rebels are heard offstage. People armed with canes, pikes and swords climb the wall, roll down stones. Parts of the wall tumble down. People rush on the stage, lift their weapons and threaten Mathieu, who is overcome with fear. De förre [The above], Perinet, En fackelbärare [A Torch Bearer], Folk/Frondörer [People/Rebels] [No. 21]
Scene 11: The Marquess is holding his sword. All point to Mathieu. De förre [The above], Folk [People], En folkanförare [A Leader]
Scene 12: Didier enters. Mathieu runs towards him. De förre [The above], Didier, Georgette
Scene 13: A soldier quickly enters. As Mathieu takes a handkerchief to wipe his forehead, a snuffbox set with diamonds fall from his pocket. The lid comes off. Perinet points to the box. As the Marquess pickes it up, reads the Duchess’s thank-you note to Mathieu, he accuses Mathieu of colluding with her. The crowd surrond Mathieu. Didier, Georgette, Alain, and Martine plead for his mercy. People offstage shout: Fred! Fred! Fred! Fred! [Peace! Peace! Peace!] The Marquess leaves. De förre [The above], En soldat [A Soldier], En af folket [A member of the Crowd]
Scene 14: The President enters, followed by several Members of parliament and Courtiers. The President points to Mathieu, thanking him for his escape from Paris. The Crowd lift Mathieu on their arms. They put him down. Music announces the approaching procession.
Finale [instrumental]: Tempo di Marcia, D major 4/4 (C)
The stage fills with people coming to watch the procession. There are shouts: Drottningen! Drottningen! [The Queen! The Queen!] Mathieu and his children climb the wall. There are shots and bell-ringing. People strew flowers and wave laurel twigs. At the end of the Chorus, the Pages and Herolds of the procession appear at Porte Neuve, behind the destroyed wall. De förre (utom Markisen), Presidenten, Parlaments-ledamöter, Hoffolk, Barn (Drottningen) [The above (except The Marquess), The President, Members of parliament, Courtiers and Ladies-in-waiting, Children (The Queen)] [No. 22]
The curtain falls.

[For the complete storyline (in Swedish), see the Swedish page of the same work.]


Work comment

From December 1860 to the end of October 1861, this work was performed another nine times, whereafter it was not performed until the opening of the new opera house in Stockholm on 19 September, 1898. The next time it was staged was in 1975 (a guest performance by the Operakomedianterna company at the Södra Teatern i Stockholm).

According to the Nordisk familjebok (Stockholm, 1908) [a Swedish encyclopedia], "la Fronde" (originally French for the sling weapon which Parisian street boys used in the riots during the minority of King Louis XIV from August 1648 until 1653. Those riots were mainly directed at the influence of the Chief minister of France, Cardinal Mazarin and started with a conflict between the court and parliament. However, the result was that the king became totally autocratic.

This work presented Jenny Lind with her first first song role.

The amended version from 1836 was 'very kindly received' (compared to the previous version, according to Boltenstern [1975])


Libretto/text

N:o 1 (Trio): Gevär på ax'l! - Ett, tu! (Didier, Georgette, Martine)

N:o 2 (Romans, första kupletten [Romance, first cuplé]): Hon kan förleda, hon kan röra (Didier)
(Romans, andra kupletten [Romance, second cuplé]): O, att i strid för denna sköna (Didier)

N:o 3 (Duo [Duet]): Min herre, nej, ni dölja vill (Georgette, Didier)

N:o 4 (Aria): Uti mitt hus befaller jag (Mathieu)

N:o 5 (Duo [Duet]): Ack, rädda mig! O, skynda bara! (Hertiginnan, Didier)

N:o 6 (Duo [Duet]): Mina pengar vandra vida (Mathieu, Markisen)

N:o 7 (Trio): Hvad nu? Hvem är det? (Mathieu, Georgette, Markisen)

N:o 8 (Final [Finale]): Min Onkel, midda'n väntar! (Georgette, Mathieu, Perinet, Markisen, Perinet, Chor bakom scenen)

N:o 9 (Trio): Du mig beskyddar ... du mig döljer? (Hertiginnan, Didier, Alain)

N:o 10 (Aria): Ack, mången gång, när faran hotar (Hertiginnan)

N:o 11 (Trio): Jag er riddare får vara? O hvad lycka, o hvad fröjd! (Didier, Hertiginnan, Georgette)

N:o 12 (Aria med Chör [Aria with Chorus]): Hur otroligt, Muntert, roligt, att bli statsman så burdus! (Mathieu, Chor af inträdande gäster [Choir of entering Guests])

N:o 13 (Duo med Chör [Duo with Chorus]): Tyst, tyst! Hör, hör! (Markisen, Didier, Chor af Frondörer [Choir of Rebels])
N:o 13 1/2 (Cavatina): I sanning, ja vår hertiginna! Ack hvilken fasa! (Hertiginnan, Didier, Markisen, Fröndörer [The Duchess, Didier, The Marquess, Rebels]) [inserted into the score] 

N:o 14 (Final): Himmel, bullret tycks sig öka (Chor af de inträdande, Alla [Choir of those entering, All])

N:o 15 (Duo [Duet]): Kärleken är en Gud med vingar (Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Georgette)

N:o 16 (Trio): Skönheten ej Kan dölja sig; nej (Markisen [The Marquess], Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Didier)

N:o 17 (Trio): I er vård jag mig då ger (Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Didier, Georgette)

N:o 18 (Romans [Romance]): När jag dig såg, du sköna qvinna (Didier)

N:o 19 (Duo [Duet]): I denna drägt, i nattens timma (Hertiginnan [The Duchess], Didier)

N:o 20 (Qvartett [Quartet]): Stilla! Var stilla nu, tyst, tyst! (Mathieu, Didier, Markisen [The Marquess], Hertiginnan [The Duchess])

N:o 21 (Trio med Chör [Trio with Chorus]): Olycklige, hvad har du gjort? Din son man gripit har. (Perinet, Mathieu, Markisen [The Marquess], Chor af Frondörer [Choir of Rebels (offstage)]

N:o 22 (Slutchör [Final chorus]): Till ditt folk du återvänder, Höga drottning, hell dig, hell! (Folk [People])