Adolphe Adam, Le postillon de Lonjumeau (1836)

Due to election anxiety, I didn't watch many operas this week. I hope to get back into a more normal schedule forthwith.

Naturally, I started with a goofy comedy. This was apparently a mega-smash-hit in its time, but I don't think it was performed much in the twentieth century. But now we have this 2019 production, the first at the Opéra Comique since 1894. I am told. It concerns a newlywed young couple, Chapelou (the postillon of the title) and Madeleine. They're celebrating, when sho should appear but La Marquis de Corcy, aide to Louis XV, who wants him to find some better singers for the opera (I feel like Louis XV sort of slips through the cracks--we know XIV as the Sun King and XVI as the one who lost his head, but not so much the guy in the middle). He hears Chapelou sing, is impressed, and asks him to come to Paris to be an opera singer, with promises of fame and fortune. He is initially reluctant, but when he learns about the staggering amount of money he'll make, he ends up going along. That's the first part. After, it's ten years later; he's become a star and hasn't seen Madeleine since (I'm sort of skeptical about this--it seems a bit contrived that they were somehow completely separate from each other for ten dang years). She's become rich thanks to a big inheritance from her aunt. She comes to the opera and no one recognizes her from back home. Chapelou is smitten and tries to seduce her, forgetting about his wife. They agree to get married. But wait! Bigamy! Call the cops! Well, no, obviously everything works out and everyone is forgiven. And there you have it.

Light stuff, for sure, but a lot of fun. I suppose as always with things like this, I find myself wishing for slightly more gravity, but hey.  I got what I paid for (it's available on Medici).  Some infectious music, though I found I liked the first act best. I...am not sure what else to say. This isn't a piece that really lends itself to deep analysis. Good production, for sure, with very colorful, expensive-looking costumes. But really, it just made me want to watch more operas. It is possible that at some point in the future my passion will cool, but that does not seem to be imminent.