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''Le roi malgré lui'' (''King in Spite of Himself'' or ''The reluctant king'') is an opéra-comique in three acts by Emmanuel Chabrier of 1887 with an original libretto by Emile de Najac and Paul Burani.〔 The opera is revived occasionally, but has not yet found a place in repertory. Eric Blom wrote that the tragic fate of the opera was to be written a quarter of a century too soon.〔Blom, Eric. ''Stepchildren of Music.'' G T Foulis & Company Ltd, London, 1923. XVI. The Tragedy of a Comic Opera, p173-179.〕 However, the music has been greatly admired by composers including d'Indy, Ravel and Stravinsky.〔 ==Composition history== Around May 1883 Chabrier wrote to his publishers that for his next stage work he was hoping to create something like Offenbach’s successful 'grand fantaisie' ''Le roi Carotte''.〔Delage,''Emmanuel Chabrier'', p.355.〕 According to Victorin de Joncières, Chabrier had confided to him that he was looking for an amusing book to set. Joncières had been sent ''Le roi malgré lui'', an old vaudeville of 1836〔First seen at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal on 19 September 1836〕 written by Marguerite-Louise Virginie Ancelot (1792–1875), by Ancelot's daughter Mme Lachaud.〔Maddocks F. "''Le roi malgré lui'':Grange Park Opera", ''Opera'', September 2003, pp. 1130-31. For the 2003 production at Grange Park Opera the dialogue was prepared by Simon Callow from the original Ancelot play.〕 However, Joncières passed the play to Chabrier, and also introduced Chabrier to Léon Carvalho, to whom Chabrier played some 'audition' pieces, which convinced the Opéra-Comique director to stage his work.〔Delage R. ''Chabrier, Iconographie musicale.'' Minkoff Lattès, 1982, p. 167.〕 An article by Theodore Massiac〔Gils Blas, (29 September 1886) quoted in Delage, ''Emmanuel Chabrier'', pp. 371-3.〕 described in some detail Chabrier's composition process for ''Le roi malgré lui''. He carefully supervised the work of the librettists Paul Burani and Emile de Najac in adapting the Ancelot work. Burani would send drafts of scenes and songs to de Najac who would send back comments and changes to Burani, and when, after some exchanges of correspondence de Najac was happy, he would send words to Chabrier to set to music. At his home at La Membrolle, Chabrier would read the words out loud in order to find the tone and rhythm of each piece and only after having played around with the text for some time would take up his pen and start composing. Chabrier did not compose at the piano – melody and rhythm came first with harmony later. He was particularly critical of being supplied with mute syllables. Finally, Jean Richepin, an old friend of the composer, had a major part in helping provide Chabrier with a libretto he could feel happy with.〔Delage, ''Emmanuel Chabrier'', pp. 374-5.〕 Chabrier noted on his copy of the libretto ''"manuscript by three authors and even by me"'', going on to describe the libretto as ''"a bouillabaisse of Najac and Burani, cooked by Richepin, into which I throw the spices"''. Although much criticized, the stage situations of Najac and Burani are "dexterously handled and reveal a sense of variety and climax".〔 The work is dedicated to Madame Victorin de Joncières. It was one of several works by Chabrier to benefit from a poster by Jules Chéret.〔Delage R. ''Chabrier, Iconographie musicale.'' Minkoff Lattès, 1982; see p. 170 for the ''Le roi malgré lui'' poster, p. 183 for ''Joyeuse Marche''.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Le roi malgré lui」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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