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It all began with a competition launched by Jacques Offenbach to honour the composition of a comic opera based on a libretto by Léon Battu and Ludovic Halévy, a farce starring the hilarious figure of a charlatan chef: Doctor Miracle. The story? Young Laurette is in love with Captain Silvio, but her father, the Podestà of Padua, and her stepmother Véronique don’t intend to let anything come of it. Disguises and deception ensue. In the end, theatre and love triumph joyfully over the father’s tyranny, playing on his hypochondriac fears.
Out of 78 competitors, Charles Lecocq and Georges Bizet, aged 18 at the time, tied for first place. First performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens in 1857, Bizet’s version disappeared for a century before being rediscovered and revived by the Conservatoire de Paris. It is still too rarely performed, given its contagious merriment and the great pleasure it brings to audiences. Light-hearted lyrics whizz in every direction, set to music with hilarious imitations of different styles, while the dish of choice is a real treat: the omelette quartet with parody sauce.
Pierre Lebon directs this delightful one-act pocket operetta with a great sense of humour, adding a comedian to the four characters who serve up this lively little gem of freshness and verve. A nod to Bizet and his Carmen that will conclude the season, offering his early work as a mirror image of his universal masterpiece.
First performance at the Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris, April 9, 1857
Hugh MacDonald Editions © Fishergate Music
Carine Séchaye is a mezzo-soprano. She obtained her singing and acting diplomas at the Geneva Conservatory and then perfected her skills at the Zurich International Opera Studio. A recipient of numerous scholarships, she is also the winner of international competitions, including the prestigious Operalia de Placido Domingo. She performs in the roles of Cherubino, Dorabella, Mélisande, Octavian, Mercédès, Rosine, Orlovsky, Berta, Bersi, Sméraldine, la Périchole, Siebel, Sesto, Mallika, l’Enfant, l’Aiglon, Carmen, Stefano, Tebaldo…
He has been heard in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Oman and Japan both in concert and on the opera stages.
Recently, she was in Marseille for La Traviata, followed by Biel and Solothurn for Dido and Aeneas (Purcell) and at the Grand Théâtre de Genève where she recently performed Mercedes in Carmen and Wellgunde (Rheingold and Götterdämmerung). Next she’ll be singing in St. Gallen and Nice in works by Offenbach and Mozart.
At the Opéra de Lausanne : Tom Jones (2006), Le directeur de théâtre (2006), La canterina (2006), Le nozze di Figaro (2007), Carmen (2008), Hansel et Gretel (2014), Faust (2016).
The French tenor Jean Miannay studied singing in Lausanne with Brigitte Balleys and in Berlin in the class of Scot Weir. He distinguished himself in 2018 at the 4th Raymond Duffaut Competition, where he won the grand prize. Following this, he won various awards at the Clermont-Ferrand Competition, the Kattenburg Competition, as well as the 2nd Vienna International Music Competition. His young lyric voice leads him to interpret roles such as Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Beppe (Pagliacci), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Alfredo (La traviata), Vincent (Mireille), or Des Grieux (Manon). In 2018, he made his first steps at the Lausanne Opera, where he performs regularly thereafter. He sings in France at the operas of Massy, Avignon and Clermont-Ferrand, as well as at the Chorégies d’Orange for the fourth consecutive year. In 2022, he made his German debut at the Theater Magdeburg in a production of Orpheus in der Unterwelt. Curious by nature, he also flourishes in contemporary creation as well as in chamber music. He has performed Benjamin Britten’s Illuminations and Serenade for horn and tenor, Janáček’s Diary of the Missing and Schumann’s Dichterliebe. He is expected this summer as Remendado (Carmen) at the Chorégies d’Orange and joins the Opéra Studio du Rhin for the 2023/24 season.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon (2018), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (2019), Rinaldo (2020), L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (2021), Semiramide, Eugene Onegin and L’elisir d’amore (2022).
Originally from Marseille, Rémi Ortega began his singing studies at the Conservatoire de région de his city, in the class of Claude Méloni, then joined the Haute école de musique de Lausanne in the class of Jörg Durmuller, where he followed master classes by Alain Garichot, Laurent Pillot, Yvonne Naef and John Fiore. In 2019, he won the Prix d’interprétation de l’instant lyrique at the Concours des maîtres du chant in Paris. He made his stage debut in the role of the Corporal in La Fille du régiment in Marseille under the direction of Bruno Conti, then in the roles of the innkeeper Pasek and the Mosquito in The Cunning Little Vixen in Monthey, under the baton of Ivan Törzs. Later, he sang the title role in Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón, Taddeo in L’italiana in Algeri conducted by Amaury Du Closel, and Emperor Chang in Lehar’s Das Land des Lächelns.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: L’Auberge du Cheval-Blanc (2021) and My Fair Lady (2022).
After making his debut with Pierre Barrat at Colmar’s Atelier lyrique du Rhin, he worked with Fran- çois Tanguy and the Théâtre du Radeau for several years. In 2000, he reunited with Pierre André Weitz, whom he had met at a production at the Théâtre du Peuple in Bussang in 1988; the latter introduced him to Olivier Py. Since then, he has designed the lighting for their theater productions and some sixty operas in France and abroad. He has also designed lighting for such artists as Ivan Alexandre, Pierre Lebon, Jacques Vincey, Kidjo and Isabelle Huppert at the Festival d’Avignon.