The Duchess of Dantzic is a comic opera in three acts, set in Paris, with music by Ivan Caryll and a book and lyrics by Henry Hamilton, based on the play Madame Sans-Gêne by Victorien Sardou and Émile Moreau. Additional lyrics by Adrian Ross. The story concerns Napoleon I and a laundress, Catherine Üpscher, who marries Marshal Lefebvre and becomes a Duchess.
The opera was first produced in London at the Lyric Theatre in 1903 and ran for 236 performances. Subsequently, it enjoyed a successful New York production at Daly's Theatre[1] and other productions around the world, and was revived in London and performed regularly by amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, until the 1950s
Act I
At the height of the French revolution, Catherine, nicknamed Madame Sans-Gêne ("without embarrassment"), a laundress, pursues her job, unimpressed by the revolutionary comings and goings. Her fiancé, Lefebvre, is absent, taking part in the storming of the royal palace. She concentrates on her job, in the course of which she is visited by Lieutenant Napoleon Bonaparte. He is too short of money to pay his laundry bill, and touched by his description of the calls on his modest income in supporting his family she lets him off his debts and even offers him some money to help him. However, she holds on to his unpaid bill.
As soon as Bonaparte has left, a young aristocrat, Philippe de Béthune, dashes in, to seek sanctuary from a pursuing revolutionary mob. Catherine takes pity on him, and, aided by the sympathetic pedlar Papillon, she hides Béthune in her bedroom. Her fiancé, Lefebvre, searches the place on behalf of the mob and publicly declares that she is not concealing anyone. Left alone he accuses her of hiding a lover. Béthune emerges from hiding to defend Catherine's honour, and Lefebvre is won over. He and Catherine help Béthune make his escape, leaving his young son and heir under their protection. Lefebvre gains a commission in the army and is appointed a lieutenant. Catherine is appointed vivandière (supplier of goods and victuals) to the regiment.
Act II
Fifteen years elapse. Bonaparte is now Emperor of the French, and all his old colleagues have been rewarded with titles and places at court. Lefebvre is now a Marshal of France, but his free-minded wife, Catherine, despite her new title of Duchess of Dantzic, not to mention her adopted son Adhèmar (Béthune's son), does not fit in with court etiquette, and Napoleon indicates to Lefebvre that he should divorce her and marry Mademoiselle Renée, whom the emperor considers more suitable. As Adhèmar is in love with Renée, he rebels against the emperor's cruel command and is arrested.
Act III
Adhèmar is liable to execution for rebellion. His pardon is dependent on his adopted parents' obeying Napoleon's orders and divorcing. Catherine confronts the emperor with the unpaid laundry bill from the days of his youthful poverty, and, reminded of her unselfish kindness to him, he relents, allows Catherine and Lefebvre to stay together, and blesses the marriage of Adhèmar and Renée.
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STEINWAY MODEL K 65/88 NOTE PIANOLA PLAYER PIANO
PIANOLIST : ADAM RAMET
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