TV Standard: NTSC
Color: Colour

Credits:

Dukas / Caens / Becquet

Description:

The masterpiece comedy by Adin, revived in a breathtakingly gorgeous stage full of joyful surprises. When the Marquis de Corsi, the director of the Paris Opera, visits their inn, he falls in love with Chapleau's beautiful voice and seduces him into becoming an opera singer who can have his way with money and women. Despite his hesitation, Chapleau secretly left for Paris without telling his wife Madeleine. Ten years later, Chapleau is a very successful singer. He falls in love at first sight with the beautiful Madame de Latour, who is introduced to him by the Marquis de Corsi, and asks her to marry him. However, the lady was actually Madeleine... The Gentleman of Long-Jumeau, first performed at the Opéra Comique in Paris in 1836, is a comedy set in the 18th century, during the reign of Louis XV, when the rococo culture was in full bloom. The hero, a country courtesan, is seduced into abandoning his wife, rising to stardom as a singer in Paris, meeting a noblewoman (actually his wife Madeleine, who has inherited a huge fortune from his aunt and has become a socialite), courting her without realizing she is his wife, and then playing a love match with the Marquis de Corsi, who has a crush on her. Along with the ballet "Giselle," this is one of Adan's most prolific works.This video shows a new production of this work at the Opéra Comique in Paris, the theater where it was first performed more than 180 years ago, completely revamped by the popular French comedian and stage director Michel Four (who also appears on stage as Rose). The stage and costumes (Christian Lacroix) are remarkable, and the American tenor Michael Spires, who specializes in French productions, was cast as the main character Chapleau, whose beautiful voice won a great ovation from the Paris audience. The light and witty baton of Sébastien Lelan, combined with the singing performance of the outstanding singers, brings Adan's masterpiece to life in the modern age. Naxos Japan