Croquefer, ou Le dernier des paladins

Croquefer, ou Le dernier des paladins is a one-act opéra bouffe by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by Adolphe Jaime and Étienne Tréfeu, first performed in 1857.

The successful premiere was at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Rue Monsigny, Paris, on 12 February 1857, subsequently revived, and productions followed in Vienna (as Ritter Eisenfrass) in 1864 and London (as The Last of the Paladins) in 1868. The authors defied the theatrical regulation forbidding more than four characters in a stage piece at the Bouffes Parisiens theatre by adding a fifth who had no tongue and could therefore only 'sing' grunts and barks in the 'quintet'. In the Duo Offenbach mocks the Salle Le Peletier, home of the Paris Opéra, and quotes from operas by Meyerbeer, Donizetti and Halévy.Croquefer was revived by the Compagnie Les Brigands at the Théâtre de l'Athénée as part of a double-bill with L'île de Tulipatan in December 2012. A complete performance of Croquefer forms part of the 1996 television film Offenbachs Geheimnis, directed by István Szabó.

The scene is the platform of a half-destroyed crenellated castle tower. Beyond, the countryside, on the left a cell with a grill facing the audience; down stage a trap-door covering an entrance from the tower to the platform. A door leads to the inside of the castle.

Boutefeu, the squire of Croquefer, surveys the countryside through a telescope. Croquefer clambers out onto the platform just as he swallows his last sabre. Mousse-à-Mort, Croquefer’s sworn enemy is approaching the castle with six armed men, presumably to rescue his daughter Fleur-de-Soufre whom Croquefer abducted fifteen days previously and who is languishing in a filthy cell. The 23-year war has ruined Croquefer and his castle, and he wants an end to it. Although Mousse-à-Mort has lost most of his body parts in battle (including his tongue), Croquefer is still frightened of him, and would like to make peace. Boutefeu lines up models of pretend soldiers to give the impression that Croquefer still has an army.

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