»Le postillon de Lonjumeau« von Adolphe Adam

In the organizer's words:

On the day of his wedding, the stagecoach driver Chapelou receives an unbeatable offer: the director of the Royal Opera wants to poach him for the French king's "little amusements" ... How will Chapelou's newlywed wife Madeleine react? Is a great singing career really beckoning for the postillion in Paris? And will the newlyweds ever see each other again?

Adolphe Adam's lively opéra comique became an international box-office hit shortly after its successful Paris premiere in 1836: the catchy melodies were whistled in the streets of European capitals and the punchlines of the spoken dialogues were told in taverns. Even Richard Wagner hummed the famous "Postillion Song" with its spectacular high D to himself now and again when he couldn't sleep at night. The score of this now largely unknown masterpiece of musical comedy not only features high top notes and demanding coloratura, but also cleverly interwoven ensemble and choral numbers.

Hans Walter Richter and Kaspar Glarner transpose the charming, good-humoured piece into the late baroque theatrical world quoted in the libretto and bring its timeless humor and, in particular, its theatrical parody to life with great attention to detail.