La Fille de Madame Angot

Overview

La Fille de Madame Angot is an opéra comique in three acts by Charles Lecocq to words by Clairville, Paul Siraudin and Victor Koning. It was premiered in Brussels in December 1872 and soon succeeded in Paris, London, New York and across Europe. With Planquette's Les Cloches de Corneville, it was the most successful French-language musical work of the last three decades of the century (Wikipedia, "La Fille de Madame Angot"). Set in Directory Paris, it follows the florist Clairette, engaged to one man and in love with another, against a more powerful rival; the plot travelled without extensive rewriting to stricter countries. Lecocq's rise coincided with Offenbach's eclipse after 1870 (Wikipedia). The conspirators' ensemble was the hit tune of the season.

Marie and this work

• 19 August 1873, Paris. At the Folies-Dramatiques, "la toquade des Parisiens": she is vexed that she cannot sing the airs, "je les ai retenus tous" (008.0086).
• 29 September 1873, Nice. Her friend Manotte plays it at the Baquis party and it pleases, unlike her Mendelssohn (010.0127). On 2 October it is given in Nice "pour la première fois": "la fureur parisienne, le succès extraordinaire" (010.0160); the aunt and Bête laugh at the "horreurs" the public finds in it, Marie finds the charge unfounded (010.0161).
• October - December 1873. She sings "toute la fille Angot" (011.0028), quotes it for a declaration of love (011.0315) and notes "De rage et de regret" (013.0301). On 22 December a woman at the station wears "un chapeau fille Angot" (014.0173). On 27 May 1874 she exclaims "(Angot) !" over her marriage (019.0374).
• 28 January 1875. She sees it with Mme de Daillens (029.0113). On 1 October 1875 the "bonnet grec" and "robe de chambre" catchphrases spread as the conspirators' air had (045.0437; see Le Procès Veauradieux).
• 23 March 1876, Rome. At the Teatro Valle, she sits in the dark behind her mother (055.1061).
• 26 December 1876, Rome. Teatro Argentina, "en italien", after placating the Visconti (068.0304).
• 12 February 1884, Paris. In a passage on Massenet's borrowings she lists the operetta among works "pillaged" (103.0321; footnote).

Not this work

070.0121 "Mlle Angot" is a racehorse in a newspaper clipping.

Sources

• Wikipedia, "La Fille de Madame Angot".
• Libretto (Internet Archive) and scores (IMSLP), linked above.