Le Toréador ou l'Accord parfait

Inspired by models from the Commedia dell’Arte , the plot is set in Seville and presents the old “Greybeard” Don Belflor (a retired bullfighter and womanizer), his young wife Coraline and her lover Tracolin . In a highly contemporary way, this leads to a three-way relationship of which everyone approves. The ‘accord parfait’ is a perfect triad consisting of exactly three notes. It is noticeable that the libretti of the Second Republic were no longer subject to censor.

Two arias were planned for each role. As a flautist, Tracolin also knows how to evoke famous melodies from the French opera repertoire in his advances. The centrepieces are the two trios.

One of these, the variation number “Ah! vous dirai-je , maman ”, is the jewel of the opera: here, vocal virtuosity and the comedy of the situation are combined with brilliant ease.

The vocal score is based on the first scholarly-critical edition of the opera. This appears in the series “ L'Opéra français ” edited by Paul Prévost . Here the spoken dialogue text is integrated with the music for the first time.