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Afgar is an operetta by Charles Cuvillier, originally written with Michel Carré and André Barde and first staged in Paris in 1909. A London adaptation with a book by Fred Thompson and Worton David and lyrics by Douglas Furber opened in 1919.
After a storm interrupts their wedding, Hoël disappears, and Dinorah loses her reason. A year later, Hoël returns, having found a treasure, and recruits Corentin to help recover it despite a legend that whoever first touches it will die. Dinorah wanders through the woods looking for her pet goat and dances with her shadow, believing it is Hoël. When Hoël and Corentin reach the treasure, Corentin learns the legend from Dinorah. During a storm, Dinorah falls into the river. Hoël rescues her, and she regains her sanity. The villagers gather and lead the reunited couple to the chapel to marry.
An aging scholar, Faust despairs of the life he has spent in study and considers suicide. Méphistophélès appears and offers him youth and worldly pleasures in exchange for his soul. Faust accepts and falls in love with Marguerite, whom he seduces and abandons. Her brother Valentin confronts Faust and is killed. Marguerite gives birth to Faust’s child, then kills the child and is imprisoned. Faust enters the prison with Méphistophélès and urges her to escape, but she entrusts herself to God and dies. Her soul rises to heaven, while an archangel bars Méphistophélès.
In a prologue set in Hell, Dante and Virgil meet Paolo and Françoise. The four acts tell of the lovers’ passion amid the battles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines; in the epilogue they sing together before a heavenly choir pardons them.
Hamlet learns from his father’s ghost that Claudius murdered the king and seeks to expose the crime. His rejection of Ophélie drives her to madness and death; after a duel with Laërte, Hamlet kills Claudius and is proclaimed king, surviving in the standard ending.
In Florence, the impoverished Horace refuses to sell his beloved dove to Maître Jean, majordomo to Countess Sylvie, who wants it to rival Aminte’s trained parrot. Sylvie learns that Horace loves her and visits him, where he happily invites her to dinner. Unable to obtain food on credit, Horace and his servant Mazet decide to kill the dove for the meal. When they serve a roasted bird, it proves to be Aminte’s escaped parrot. Sylvie is pleased that Horace’s dove is alive and will remain a reminder of his love.
Adoniram, architect of Solomon’s Temple, prepares a great bronze basin. His workers Amrou, Phanor and Méthousaël demand better pay and plot against him. When Balkis, Queen of Sheba, visits Jerusalem, she is impressed by the temple and gives Adoniram a necklace, provoking Solomon’s jealousy. The workers sabotage the casting of the basin, but it is later completed after the mould is mysteriously repaired. Balkis and Adoniram confess their love. The workers reveal their relationship to Solomon, and Balkis drugs Solomon, takes back her engagement ring and arranges to elope with Adoniram. The workers kill Adoniram when he refuses their renewed demands. Balkis finds him dead, places the ring on his finger and mourns him.
At Pierrette’s cabaret in Saint-Flour, her suitors Marcachu and Chapailloux bring her a cooking pot and shoes, respectively. A quarrel over the presents leads to a fight and a disastrous shared soup; Pierrette chooses Chapailloux, but Marcachu returns with more gifts, and the three end by making peace and dancing.
In Damascus, wealthy Sélim meets Margyane and falls in love, but leaves to seek a buried treasure. Spirits promise him a thirteenth jeweled statue if he marries an innocent girl and delivers her to them. In Mecca, he marries Margyane, unaware she is the girl from the desert. Torn between his vow and love, he refuses to surrender her, but Amgiad takes her away while Sélim sleeps. He returns to claim the treasure and plans to smash the statue; Margyane appears in its place, and Amgiad reveals that love is a greater treasure than gold.
Mughal princess Lalla-Roukh travels to marry the King of Samarkand, accompanied by her confidantes. She falls in love with Nourreddin, a poet-singer in her caravan, and plans to refuse the arranged marriage. At the palace, she discovers that Nourreddin is the king she was promised to wed.
Farmer Guillot secretly loves his orphan cousin Denise but hides his feelings by treating her harshly. When a letter from their uncle promises treasure under a great tree, two widows scheme to marry Guillot, but Denise’s letter reveals that she is the promised treasure. Guillot and Denise agree to marry beneath the lanterns of the curious villagers.
Martine, mistreated by her husband Sganarelle, tells two servants that he is a doctor who must be beaten before he will practice. Forced into the role, Sganarelle is taken to treat Lucinde, who is pretending to be mute to avoid an unwanted marriage; he helps her and her lover Léandre arrange an elopement, and Léandre's new inheritance appeases her father Géronte.
The artist Conrad is obsessed with gold and is captivated by his painting of Circe, embodied by the ballerina Fiammetta. Dr. Spiridion gives Conrad a silver bell that grants the gold he desires at the cost of someone’s death. In the end, Conrad realizes that the events have taken place only in his fevered imagination.
A one-act French opéra comique by Victor Massé; its story is not documented in the available account.
Pearl fishers Zurga and Nadir renew their vow of friendship, unaware that Leïla, the priestess who arrives to pray for their safety, is the woman they once loved. When Nadir and Leïla reunite, Zurga’s jealousy condemns them, but he recognizes Leïla as the child who once saved his life and frees the pair during a fire. Later productions altered the ending, sometimes having Zurga killed.
In Germany, the wandering minstrel Lothario and student Wilhelm Meister rescue Mignon from a gypsy who threatens her. Wilhelm buys her freedom, and Mignon travels with him while falling in love. At a castle, she becomes jealous when Wilhelm favors the actress Philine, and Lothario sets fire to the conservatory after Mignon wishes it would burn. Wilhelm rescues her. In Italy, the castle’s history helps Mignon recover her memory: she realizes that Lothario is her father, and the three are reunited.
In Provence, Mireille and Vincent fall in love despite their families’ opposition. After jealous Ourrias wounds Vincent and is lost in the Rhône, Mireille crosses the Crau to reach him; she collapses at the chapel of Saintes-Maries, where her father forgives her before she dies.
Jupiter visits the poor but contented couple Philémon and Baucis during a storm he has caused. Pleased by their kindness and angered by the impious people nearby, he spares them and destroys the others. He grants the couple youth again, then pursues Baucis, who remains faithful despite being tempted by his attention. Philémon curses the gift and leaves. Baucis begs Jupiter to punish her instead, and asks to grow old again with her husband. Philémon joins her plea, and Jupiter blesses their marriage and promises not to disturb their happiness.
In Melitene, Armenia, Pauline is married to Polyeucte but once loved Roman general Sévère. When Sévère returns, Pauline confides in him that Polyeucte is in danger because Christians are to be executed. Polyeucte becomes a Christian despite the threat of persecution. Governor Félix orders vengeance, and Sévère cannot persuade Polyeucte to deny his faith. Polyeucte remains imprisoned and appears with Pauline in the arena as the lion’s den is opened.
At a masked ball in Verona, Roméo and Juliette meet and fall in love despite their families’ feud. They marry secretly, but a street fight leads to Mercutio’s and Tybalt’s deaths and Roméo’s banishment. Juliette takes a sleeping draught to avoid a forced marriage; Roméo, believing her dead, takes poison in the family tomb. When Juliette awakens, she kills herself to join him in death.
Gilbert travels to Paris to marry Valentine, his fiancée whom he has not seen for ten years. At an inn, Boisrobert, who is trying to evade marriage to actress Sylvia, proposes that Sylvia impersonate Valentine and marry Gilbert. Gilbert falls for Sylvia, while the real Valentine secretly writes the letters that sustain his affection. Sylvia eventually gives up the deception, and Valentine reveals it first; she and Gilbert marry, leaving Sylvia heartbroken.
Afgar is an operetta by Charles Cuvillier, originally written with Michel Carré and André Barde and first staged in Paris in 1909. A London adaptation with a book by Fred Thompson and Worton David and lyrics by Douglas Furber opened in 1919.
After a storm interrupts their wedding, Hoël disappears, and Dinorah loses her reason. A year later, Hoël returns, having found a treasure, and recruits Corentin to help recover it despite a legend that whoever first touches it will die. Dinorah wanders through the woods looking for her pet goat and dances with her shadow, believing it is Hoël. When Hoël and Corentin reach the treasure, Corentin learns the legend from Dinorah. During a storm, Dinorah falls into the river. Hoël rescues her, and she regains her sanity. The villagers gather and lead the reunited couple to the chapel to marry.
An aging scholar, Faust despairs of the life he has spent in study and considers suicide. Méphistophélès appears and offers him youth and worldly pleasures in exchange for his soul. Faust accepts and falls in love with Marguerite, whom he seduces and abandons. Her brother Valentin confronts Faust and is killed. Marguerite gives birth to Faust’s child, then kills the child and is imprisoned. Faust enters the prison with Méphistophélès and urges her to escape, but she entrusts herself to God and dies. Her soul rises to heaven, while an archangel bars Méphistophélès.
In a prologue set in Hell, Dante and Virgil meet Paolo and Françoise. The four acts tell of the lovers’ passion amid the battles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines; in the epilogue they sing together before a heavenly choir pardons them.
Hamlet learns from his father’s ghost that Claudius murdered the king and seeks to expose the crime. His rejection of Ophélie drives her to madness and death; after a duel with Laërte, Hamlet kills Claudius and is proclaimed king, surviving in the standard ending.
In Florence, the impoverished Horace refuses to sell his beloved dove to Maître Jean, majordomo to Countess Sylvie, who wants it to rival Aminte’s trained parrot. Sylvie learns that Horace loves her and visits him, where he happily invites her to dinner. Unable to obtain food on credit, Horace and his servant Mazet decide to kill the dove for the meal. When they serve a roasted bird, it proves to be Aminte’s escaped parrot. Sylvie is pleased that Horace’s dove is alive and will remain a reminder of his love.
Adoniram, architect of Solomon’s Temple, prepares a great bronze basin. His workers Amrou, Phanor and Méthousaël demand better pay and plot against him. When Balkis, Queen of Sheba, visits Jerusalem, she is impressed by the temple and gives Adoniram a necklace, provoking Solomon’s jealousy. The workers sabotage the casting of the basin, but it is later completed after the mould is mysteriously repaired. Balkis and Adoniram confess their love. The workers reveal their relationship to Solomon, and Balkis drugs Solomon, takes back her engagement ring and arranges to elope with Adoniram. The workers kill Adoniram when he refuses their renewed demands. Balkis finds him dead, places the ring on his finger and mourns him.
At Pierrette’s cabaret in Saint-Flour, her suitors Marcachu and Chapailloux bring her a cooking pot and shoes, respectively. A quarrel over the presents leads to a fight and a disastrous shared soup; Pierrette chooses Chapailloux, but Marcachu returns with more gifts, and the three end by making peace and dancing.
In Damascus, wealthy Sélim meets Margyane and falls in love, but leaves to seek a buried treasure. Spirits promise him a thirteenth jeweled statue if he marries an innocent girl and delivers her to them. In Mecca, he marries Margyane, unaware she is the girl from the desert. Torn between his vow and love, he refuses to surrender her, but Amgiad takes her away while Sélim sleeps. He returns to claim the treasure and plans to smash the statue; Margyane appears in its place, and Amgiad reveals that love is a greater treasure than gold.
Mughal princess Lalla-Roukh travels to marry the King of Samarkand, accompanied by her confidantes. She falls in love with Nourreddin, a poet-singer in her caravan, and plans to refuse the arranged marriage. At the palace, she discovers that Nourreddin is the king she was promised to wed.
Farmer Guillot secretly loves his orphan cousin Denise but hides his feelings by treating her harshly. When a letter from their uncle promises treasure under a great tree, two widows scheme to marry Guillot, but Denise’s letter reveals that she is the promised treasure. Guillot and Denise agree to marry beneath the lanterns of the curious villagers.
Martine, mistreated by her husband Sganarelle, tells two servants that he is a doctor who must be beaten before he will practice. Forced into the role, Sganarelle is taken to treat Lucinde, who is pretending to be mute to avoid an unwanted marriage; he helps her and her lover Léandre arrange an elopement, and Léandre's new inheritance appeases her father Géronte.
The artist Conrad is obsessed with gold and is captivated by his painting of Circe, embodied by the ballerina Fiammetta. Dr. Spiridion gives Conrad a silver bell that grants the gold he desires at the cost of someone’s death. In the end, Conrad realizes that the events have taken place only in his fevered imagination.
A one-act French opéra comique by Victor Massé; its story is not documented in the available account.
Pearl fishers Zurga and Nadir renew their vow of friendship, unaware that Leïla, the priestess who arrives to pray for their safety, is the woman they once loved. When Nadir and Leïla reunite, Zurga’s jealousy condemns them, but he recognizes Leïla as the child who once saved his life and frees the pair during a fire. Later productions altered the ending, sometimes having Zurga killed.
In Germany, the wandering minstrel Lothario and student Wilhelm Meister rescue Mignon from a gypsy who threatens her. Wilhelm buys her freedom, and Mignon travels with him while falling in love. At a castle, she becomes jealous when Wilhelm favors the actress Philine, and Lothario sets fire to the conservatory after Mignon wishes it would burn. Wilhelm rescues her. In Italy, the castle’s history helps Mignon recover her memory: she realizes that Lothario is her father, and the three are reunited.
In Provence, Mireille and Vincent fall in love despite their families’ opposition. After jealous Ourrias wounds Vincent and is lost in the Rhône, Mireille crosses the Crau to reach him; she collapses at the chapel of Saintes-Maries, where her father forgives her before she dies.
Jupiter visits the poor but contented couple Philémon and Baucis during a storm he has caused. Pleased by their kindness and angered by the impious people nearby, he spares them and destroys the others. He grants the couple youth again, then pursues Baucis, who remains faithful despite being tempted by his attention. Philémon curses the gift and leaves. Baucis begs Jupiter to punish her instead, and asks to grow old again with her husband. Philémon joins her plea, and Jupiter blesses their marriage and promises not to disturb their happiness.
In Melitene, Armenia, Pauline is married to Polyeucte but once loved Roman general Sévère. When Sévère returns, Pauline confides in him that Polyeucte is in danger because Christians are to be executed. Polyeucte becomes a Christian despite the threat of persecution. Governor Félix orders vengeance, and Sévère cannot persuade Polyeucte to deny his faith. Polyeucte remains imprisoned and appears with Pauline in the arena as the lion’s den is opened.
At a masked ball in Verona, Roméo and Juliette meet and fall in love despite their families’ feud. They marry secretly, but a street fight leads to Mercutio’s and Tybalt’s deaths and Roméo’s banishment. Juliette takes a sleeping draught to avoid a forced marriage; Roméo, believing her dead, takes poison in the family tomb. When Juliette awakens, she kills herself to join him in death.
Gilbert travels to Paris to marry Valentine, his fiancée whom he has not seen for ten years. At an inn, Boisrobert, who is trying to evade marriage to actress Sylvia, proposes that Sylvia impersonate Valentine and marry Gilbert. Gilbert falls for Sylvia, while the real Valentine secretly writes the letters that sustain his affection. Sylvia eventually gives up the deception, and Valentine reveals it first; she and Gilbert marry, leaving Sylvia heartbroken.