Toreador Ou L'Accord Parfait

Inspired by models from the Commedia dell’Arte, the plot is set in Seville and presents the old “Greybeard” Don Belflor (a retired bullfighter and womanizer), his young wife Coraline and her lover Tracolin. In a highlycontemporary way, this leads to a three-way relationship of which everyone approves. The ‘accord parfait’ is a perfect triad consisting of exactly three notes. It is noticeable that the libretti of the Second Republic were nolonger subject to censor.

Two arias were planned for each role. As a flautist, Tracolin also knows how to evoke famous melodies from the French opera repertoire in his advances. The centrepieces are the twotrios.

Oneof these, the variation number “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman ”, is the jewel of the opera: here, vocal virtuosity and the comedy of the situation are combined with brilliant ease.

The Vocal score is based on thefirst scholarly-critical edition of the opera. This appears in the series “ L'Opéra français ” edited by Paul Prévost. Here the spoken dialogue text is integrated with the music for the first time.

• Based on theUrtext of the new series “ L’Opéra français ”.
• Original French text with singing German translation.
• Extensive foreword (Fr/Ger/Eng).
• Full score (BA8701) and Vocal score (BA8701-90) available for sale andperformance material available for hire.