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Les deux chaussures et la laitière (1763) - Egidio Duni
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Background
In the wake of the War of the Buffoons, the Italian composer Egidio Duni became an important force in the development of opéra comique in Paris. Although his early operas were of the opera seria type, he began to cultivate the French opéra comique in response to this genre’s popularity in Parma, where he lived at the time. Duni eventually moved to Paris and even became the director of the Comédie-Italien.
Duni’s French style was shaped by the developments of the War of the Buffoons, which pitted French tragic opera against Italian comic opera. The newly emergent opéra comique genre, for which Duni is still considered to be one of the major contributors, combined elements of both styles. His significance in the development of opéra comique is evident in the long-term success of Les deux chasseurs et la laitière, which was performed at the Comédie-Italien until 1792, almost twenty years after the composer’s death.
Plot
Deep in a forest, the hunter Colas sits waiting for his friend Guillot and laments his wretched life. He hopes that the two of them will be able to slay the bear that has long eluded them, and that selling the animal will bring him enough money to end his misery. His friend Guillot arrives, bringing with him food and wine; as the two hunters feast, they argue over the best way to find and kill the bear. During the course of the dinner, Guillot reveals that he bought the food and wine on credit for the hide of the still uncaptured bear.
Soon, the bear appears in front of them: Guillot’s gun is not charged and Colas cannot bring himself to shoot the animal. Guillot loads his gun and shoots at the bear, but misses. Colas decides to look for the bear in its den, leaving Guillot to wait in case the bear comes back.
Perrette enters, on her way to the market to sell her milk. Guillot warms Perrette with flattery; he asks for her love, and though she refuses, he promptly asks for her hand in marriage. Perrette mocks Guillot, declaring the poor man an unfit match for her. Confident about the forthcoming sale of the bear hide, Guillot promises to soon have money and inquires about Perrette’s finances. She answers that she, too, will soon be rich, and unfolds her plan: she will sell the milk she is carrying in order to buy eggs that will hatch and become chickens; with the sale of those chickens, she will buy animals to start a farm. Perrette leaves for the market, and Colas soon comes rushing back, chased by the bear, who then runs away. Colas claims to have shot and injured the bear and sends Guillot after it. When Colas lies down for a nap, Perrette returns in tears, having spilled the milk she was planning to sell. Seeing Guillot arriving, Perrette hides behind a tree to avoid his mockery. Guillot enters, exasperated that he was unable to capture the bear.
In the end, Perrette and Guillot, neither of them any richer than before, decide to get married, while Colas continues to lament his lot in life.
Bibliography
Title from title page: LES / DEUX CHASSEURS / ET LA LAITIERE / COMEDIE / EN UN ACTE
Genre: Comédie mêlée d'ariettes
Composer: Egidio Duni, 1708-1775
Librettist: Louis Anseaume, ca. 1721-ca. 1784
Setting: A forest
Concert premiere: Fontainebleau, 7 October 1697
Stage premiere: Paris, Comédie-Italienne, 23 July 1763
First published: Paris: auteur, aux adresses ordinaires de musique, n.d.; and Lyon: Castaud, n.d.
Volume in the UNT Lully Collection: Paris: auteur, aux addresses ordinaires de musique, n.d.; and Lyon, Castaud, n.d.
For further reading on Les deux chasseurs et la laitière, see:
Smith, Kent M. Egidio Duni and the Development of the Opéra-comique from 1753 to 1770. Ph.D. diss.: Cornell University, 1980.
Smith, Kent M. and Elizabeth Cook. “Duni, Egidio.” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [Accessed 17 December 2003]. <http://www.grovemusic.com>
Physical
Dimensions: 33.7 x 24.7 cm.
Conservation: Foxing; Cockling and creasing; Bleed-through; some water stains; some text fading; some torn pages with discolored tape; frass on some pages; cover worn and slightly discolored with torn leather.
Binding: Green leather. Leather mostly missing on spine. Spine contains remnant of title paper that reads "Les Deux Chasseurs."
Comments: North Texas property plate inside front cover; Dewey Decimal number in lower left corner of front cover.