The work was Monsigny's greatest musical success and is one of the key operas of late 18th-century French opéra comique. It was performed in Amsterdam (1769), Copenhagen (1770), Germany in German translation (1770: Hamburg and Brunswick; 1771: Frankfurt), London on 2 November 1773 in an English version by
Charles Dibdin, who added music of his own and two numbers by
Philidor, and was performed in
New York City on 8 June 1787 in French and in Philadelphia on 11 July 1787 in English (London version).[1] It was revived by the Paris
Opéra-Comique on 28 July 1802 at the
Salle Feydeau and on 30 October 1843 at the
second Salle Favart, in a revised version re-orchestrated by
Adolphe Adam.[2] The company performed it over 300 times up to 1911.[3] The work mixes serious and comic elements, an example of the latter being the behaviour of the drunkard Montauciel. The theme of a last-minute reprieve from execution influenced later
rescue opera.
Alexis, a young soldier, is engaged to be married to Louise, a farmer's daughter. On the orders of her father, she plays a trick on him by pretending she is going to marry her cousin Bertrand instead. Alexis falls for the deception and deserts the army in despair. He is captured and thrown into jail to await execution. Louise goes to see the king to beg for mercy for Alexis. She receives a letter of reprieve but faints from exhaustion before she is able to deliver it. All ends happily, however, when the king arrives in person and frees Alexis.
Recording
Le déserteur (musical numbers only): William Sharp (Alexis), Dominique Labelle (Louise), Ann Monoyios (Jeannette), David Newman (Montauciel/Second Guard), Eugene Galvin (Jean-Louis/Third Guard), Tony Boutté (Bertrand/First Guard), Darren Perry (Courchemin), Claire Kuttler (Aunt Marguerite), Andrew Adelsberger (Jailer), Opera Lafayette Orchestra, conducted by Ryan Brown (
Naxos 8.660263-64, 2010)
Adaptations
The opera was adapted as a pantomime ballet at least three times in the eighteenth century:
Zuchelli’s Il disertore, first produced at the King’s Theatre, London, in December 1779
^ Alfred Loewenberg (1978), Annals of Opera 1597–1940 (third edition, revised), columns 305–306. Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield.
ISBN9780874718515.
^Nicole Wild and David Charlton, David (2005), Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762-1972, p. 212. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga.
ISBN978-2-87009-898-1.
^Wolff S. Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900–1950). André Bonne, Paris, 1953.
^According to Mellace, unless otherwise stated in footnotes
^Caillot, the first performer, was endowed with a very wide
compass which enabled him to sing as a
basse taille, but also to reach up to the
haute-contre tones (Jean Gourret, Histoire de l'Opéra-Comique, Paris, Les publications universitaires, 1978, p. 43). According to
Rodolfo Celletti "he was a
baritenor and a
bass at the same time":
Grétry and
Monsigny used to notate his parts in the
bass clef, but to set them in high-baritone
tessiture (Voce di tenore, Milan, Idealibri, 1989, p. 59,
ISBN88-7082-127-7).
^John V. Chapman (2004), "Jean Dauberval", pp. 351–354, in International Encyclopedia of Dance (6 volumes), edited by Selma Jeanne Cohen. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN9780195094626 (hardcover).
ISBN9780195173697 (2004 paperback edition).
(in Italian) Mellace, Raffaele, Déserteur, Le, in Gelli, Piero and Poletti, Filippo (editors), Dizionario dell'opera 2008, Milan, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, p. 304,
ISBN978-88-6073-184-5 (reproduced at
Opera Manager)
Sedaine, Michel (1769). Le déserteur: Drame en trois actes, en prose melée de musique. Par Monsieur Sedaine. La musique par M***. Représentée [sic!], pour la premiere fois, par les Comédiens Italiens ordinaires du Roi, le Lundi 6 Mars 1769, libretto, 82 pages. Paris: Chez Claude Herissant.
View at
Google Books.
Philippe Vendrix (ed.) L'opéra-comique en France au XVIIIe siècle (Mardaga, 1992)