Fantasio

The young Fantasio has lost interest in life. He dreams about changing identity. It just so happens that the court jester recently died, so why not step in? Nobody loved the deceased as much as the princess Elsbeth, but she is doomed to a marriage of convenience. The new court jester will prompt the princess to listen to her heart. How far will she surrender?

Offenbach met Musset at the Comédie- Française and owed him his initial success. The romantic dimension of this Fantasio revisited by the poet’s brother, totally inspired him. But in 1872, the defeat of Sedan was still fresh, and the public dismissed Offenbach’s attempt to compose more than operetta. Fantasio’s music score was recycled in The Tales of Hoffmann, and then was partly lost in the Salle Favart fire.

In 2017, Laurent Campellone and Thomas Jolly revived this recently recovered jewel. Marianne Crebassa embodied the title role, created in 1872, with panache. Performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet during the renovation of the Salle Favart, their frenzy Fantasio returns to its native theatre in 2020.

Comic opera in three acts, Libretto by Paul de Musset based on Alfred de Musset’s play. Created at the Opéra Comique in 1872.