Madame Sans-Gêne (opera)

Madame Sans-Gêne
Opera by Umberto Giordano
Geraldine Farrar as Caterina Hubscher in the opera's premiere
Librettist	Renato Simoni
Premiere	25 January 1915 (1915-01-25) Metropolitan Opera, New York

Madame Sans-Gêne is an opera in three acts by Umberto Giordano. The libretto was taken from Victorien Sardou and Émile Moreau's play, adapted for the opera by Renato Simoni.

Its première took place at the Metropolitan Opera on 25 January 1915, conducted by Arturo Toscanini with Geraldine Farrar in the title role, Giovanni Martinelli, and Pasquale Amato. This was followed by a performance in Turin under Ettore Panizza with Farneti, Grassi and Riccardo Stracciari on 28 February 1915.

Paris. 10 August 1792, the day of the capture of the Tuileries during the French Revolution

There is a squabble in the laundry of Caterina Hubscher, a beautiful Alsacian girl, a very free and easy mannered woman whom everyone calls "Madame Sans-Gêne" (Madame Carefree). One of her customers is Fouché (later Minister of Police under Napoleon), whom Caterina dislikes; another, a quiet young officer who lives nearby, is Napoleon himself. As Caterina is about to close her laundry, a wounded Austrian officer arrives and asks for her help, Caterina hides him in her room. The officer turns out to be the Count of Neipperg. Sergeant Lefebvre, Caterina's fiancé, arrives with more soldiers and is suspicious when he sees the doors closed. He discovers Neipperg but tells his men that there is no one in the room, and to leave. Once alone with Caterina, he helps her to assist the Count.