Whittington (opera)

Whittington is an opera (described in the premiere programme as 'A New Grand Opera Bouffe Feerie, in Four Acts and Nine Tableaux) with music by Jacques Offenbach, based on the legend of Dick Whittington and His Cat. It was premiered in a spectacular production at the Alhambra Theatre, London, on 26 December 1874. Whittington is the only major work of Offenbach to have received its premiere in London, and came between the incidental music for La Haine and his third version of Geneviève de Brabant.

The work was commissioned by Wood & Co, publishers for the Christmas season at the Alhambra, Leicester Square. Based on a scenario by H. B. Farnie, a French libretto was prepared by Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter and Étienne Tréfeu (who had previously given Offenbach Il signor Fagotto, Le Fifre enchanté, Coscoletto, La Princesse de Trébizonde and Boule de neige), and then translated into English by Farnie for the production in London.

Offenbach devised three major dance sequences in deference to the Alhambra's reputation as a theatre of ballet: for sailors in Act 1, a 'Grand Barbaric Ballet' in Act 2 and a ballet for peasants and archers in the fourth act. The 1890s French critic in Les Annales was particularly impressed by several numbers of the score, noting particularly the quartet "Tout bon citoyen d'Angleterre", the cat's song, the duetto "Mais qu'est ce donc qu'une chatte ?" and the Act 1 quartet of the inventory. Yon cites the ballad "Wind that blows across the sea", Hirvoia's brindisi, the police sergeant's comic song and the first act finale with its 'romance du miaou' and waltz song, as evidence of Offenbach keeping to his high musical standards.

Offenbach's La chatte métamorphosée en femme also has a prominent role for a feline.

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