Les brigands (, The Bandits) is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Meilhac and Halévy's libretto lampoons both serious drama (Schiller's play The Robbers) and opéra comique (Fra Diavolo and Les diamants de la couronne by Auber). The plot is cheerfully amoral in its presentation of theft as a basic principle of society rather than as an aberration. As Falsacappa, the brigand chieftain, notes: "Everybody steals according to their position in society."Libretto: "Sans doute !... il faut voler selon la position qu'on occupe dans la société... c'est élémentaire." Act 2, scene 3. The piece premiered in Paris in 1869 and has received periodic revivals in France and elsewhere, both in French and in translation.
Les brigands has a more substantial plot than many Offenbach operettas and integrates the songs more completely into the story. The forces of law and order are represented by the bumbling carabinieri, whose exaggerated attire delighted the Parisian audience during the premiere. In addition to policemen, financiers receive satiric treatment. The satire counterpoints lively musical romps and the frequent use of Italian and Spanish rhythms; "Soyez pitoyables" is a true canon, and each act finale is a well-developed whole. A 1983 New York Times article theorized that the music of the piece influenced Bizet in writing Carmen and noted that the librettists for this work supplied Bizet's libretto,Hughes, Allan. "Recordings; Rare Works Display Offenbach's Varied Gifts", The New York Times, 27 March 1983, accessed 22 August 2013 but standard studies of Bizet and Offenbach do not mention any such influence.Winton, Dean, Winton. Bizet, J M Dent & Sons, London (1978); Curtiss M. Bizet and His World, Vienna House, New York, (1974); Yon, Jean-Claude. Jacques Offenbach, Éditions Gallimard, Paris (2000); and McClary, Susan. "Georges Bizet: Carmen", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, (1992).
Performance history
Les brigands was first performed at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris on 10 December 1869; this version was in three acts. A four-act version was subsequently prepared for a production at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, opening on 25 December 1878. The piece achieved great success as the Second Empire came to an end. Only the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in the following months dampened audience enthusiasm. The work was soon popular around Europe and beyond: it was produced in Vienna, Antwerp, Prague, Stockholm, Berlin, Madrid and Budapest in 1870,Loewenberg, Alfred. Annals of Opera, 1597–1940. London, John Calder, 1978. . and in New York City at the Pike's Opera House in 1870–71.
Paris revivals included 1885 with Léonce and Dupuis from the original cast, 1900 with Marguerite Ugalde, Mathilde Auguez and Dupuis and the same year with Tariol-Baugé, at the Gaîté-Lyrique in 1921 with Andrée Alvar, Raymonde Vécart and Jean Périer, and at the Opéra-Comique in 1931 with Marcelle Denya, Emma Luart, Dranem and Louis Musy.Gänzl, Kurt and Andrew Lamb, Gänzl's Book of the Musical Theatre, The Bodley Head, London, 1988 In Germany, Gustaf Gründgens mounted the piece twice, at the Städtische Oper in 1932 in Düsseldorf in the late 1950s.
Later revivals have been produced at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1978 directed by Peter Ustinov,Peter Ustinov Foundation, Achievements , retrieved 23 August 2013 with Donald Grobe ad Falsacappa, Barry McDaniel as Duke of Mantua, Lisa Otto and Sieglinde Wagner,James Helme Sutcliffe. Germany (West) – Ustinov's Offenbach. Opera, Vol. 29, No. 5, May 1978, pp. 494–495. at the Opéra de Lyon in 1988 with Michel Trempont as Falascappa and Colette Alliot-Lugaz as Fragoletto (recorded by EMI),"Jacques Offenbach: Les Brigands", in Kaminski, Piotr. Mille et Un Opéras, Fayard, 2003, p. 1083 1992 at Amsterdam Opera with Michel Sénéchal as Falsacappa, Michèle Lagrange as Fiorella, Brigitte Balleys as Fragoletto, Jules Bastin as Chef des carabiniers and Ryland Davies as Le baron de Campotasso, 1993 at the Opéra Bastille (produced by Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff), and at the Opéra-Comique in 2011 with Éric Huchet as Falsacappa, Julie Boulianne as Fragoletto and Loïc Félix as Le caissier (broadcast on Medici TV)."Offenbach's Les Brigands, Medici TV. Retrieved 10 December 2025."Les Brigands trouvent leurs aises à l'Opéra-Comique", Le Monde, 28 June 2011
English versions
The piece was translated in three acts as The Brigands by English dramatist W. S. Gilbert and published by Boosey in 1871 but was not performed until 9 May 1889 at the Casino Theatre, New York City, starring Edwin Stevens as Falsacappa (the brigand chieftain), Lillian Russell as Fiorella, Fred Solomon as Pietro (the brigand lieutenant), Henry Hallam as the Duke, and Fanny Rice as Fragoletto,Complete cast information with an American tour thereafter. Its British premiere was on 2 September 1889 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, soon transferring to the Avenue Theatre in London, beginning 16 September 1889, running for about 16 nights until 12 October.Moss, Simon. "The Brigands" at Gilbert & Sullivan: a selling exhibition of memorabilia, c20th.com, accessed 21 November 2009"The Brigands", The Morning Post, 16 September 1889, p. 2 It then toured, starring Hallam Mostyn as Falsacappa, H. Lingard as Pietro, Frank Wensley as Fragoletto, Agnes Dellaporte as Fiorella, Marie Luella as the Princess of Granada, and Geraldine St. MaurGänzl, Kurt. "Geraldine St Maur: or The Blogger bloggered", Kurt of Gerolstein, 20 March 2026 as Fiametta.
Gilbert was displeased with his own work, which he had created merely to secure the British copyright, and he attempted to prevent its performance in London, without success.Letter from Gilbert to The Times of 16 September 1889 He also objected to new songs inserted in the piece but written by another lyricist.Gilbert's letter re: Gilbert v. Boosey to The Times, 8 November 1889, p. 10 Gilbert's arch lyrics pleased operetta audiences, who were delighted to accept a rough-and-tumble pirate band speaking impeccable drawing room English while describing dastardly deeds to gavottes and musical romps in three-quarter time. Many of the characters and situations in the piece are echoed in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance (1879) and The Gondoliers (1889). Another English version by H. S. Leigh had been presented at the Globe Theatre in London under the name Falsacappa, beginning on 13 September 1875. Camille Dubois starred as Fragoletto, Julia Vokins was the Princess of Granada and Nelly Bromley was the Prince of Popoli. This version had also been given an 1871 performance in London.
A critical edition of the work by Jean-Christophe Keck, published in 2004, includes the original French libretto by Meilhac and Halévy, the original German version by Richard Genée, W. S. Gilbert's version revised by Richard Duployen and a new English version by Stefan Troßbach"Offenbach – Keck, Les Brigands", OEK critical edition (Die Banditen / The Bandits) (1869/78). Retrieved 10 December 2025.
Roles +RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 10 December 1869Conductor: Jacques OffenbachAdolphe de ValladolidtenorHenri Venderjench 'Cooper'Antonio, treasurer to the DuketenorLéonceBarbavanobassDaniel BacBaron de Campo-TassotenorCharles BlondeletCarmagnolatenorGobinComte de Gloria-CassistenorGourdonDominotenorBordierDuc de MantouebaritoneConstant LanjallaisFalsacappa, the brigand chieftenorJosé DupuisFiorella, his daughtersopranoMarie AiméeFragoletto, a farmermezzo-sopranoZulma BouffarLa DuchessesopranoA RégnaultPipa, wife of PiposopranoLéoniePipetta, daughter of PiposopranoFanny GénatPipo, a landlordtenorBoulangePiétro, the brigand lieutenanttenorJean-Laurent KoppLa Princesse de GrenadesopranoLuccianiZerlinasopranoJulia H.BiancasopranoOppenheimFiamettasopranoBessyCiccinellasopranoDouardMarquisesopranoGravierChief of the carabinieribaritoneBaronPreceptorbassVideixChorus: Brigands, Carabinieri, Peasants, Cooks, Pages of the Mantuan court, Lords and Ladies of the Grenadan court, Pages of the Princess, Lords and Ladies of the Mantuan court.
Synopsis
Act 1 A wild rocky place The brigands assemble at dawn, but some of them complain to Falsacappa that they cannot live properly on the rewards of their work. He promises an imminent and profitable venture. The marriage of the Princess of Grenade with the Duc de Mantoue has been announced, and the band will be there.
His daughter Fiorella has fallen for the young farmer Fragoletto, whose farm the gang recently raided, and she is beginning to have doubts about their calling. She shows Piétro, the second-in-command a small portrait she has had painted of herself. Fragoletto is brought in by some of the brigands, not unwillingly, as he asks for Fiorella's hand, and to join the band. Falsacappa agrees on condition that Fragoletto prove himself.
Fiorella is left with Piétro, and a handsome stranger enters. He – fascinated by her – has lost his way. When Piétro goes to find help, she decides to warn him – in fact the Duke of Mantua – to flee. Fragoletto arrives with an intercepted message about the union of the Duke and the Princess of Granada, setting out the promise to the Spaniards of a large dowry instead of the debt owed to them. Falsacappa frees the messenger, replacing the princess's portrait in the briefcase with that of his daughter. Fragoletto has earned his place in the band; as the gang celebrate their new member they hear the sound of the boots of the carabinieri approaching, but they pass by without noticing the gang, and the brigands resume their celebration of their plans.
Act 2 An inn on the frontier The Mantuan delegation is heading for Pipo's inn on the border of Italy and Spain on the road from Granada to Mantua. Posing as beggars the bandits come to the inn; they quickly overwhelm the hotel staff horrified to be victims of the infamous Falsacappa.
The band plan to disguise themselves as cooks and waiters; then, when the Mantuans arrive, they will capture them in turn and re-disguise themselves as Mantuans, so that when the Granadans arrive they will surprise them, don their clothes and hasten to the Mantuan court to present Fiorella as the princess whose associate (Pietro in disguise) is worth three millions. Fiorella claims her reward, Fragolettos's hand, and the disguising begins.
When the Mantuan party arrive, led by the Baron de Campotasso and accompanied by the carabinieri they fall into the trap, but the brigands have little time to switch clothes again before the Granadan delegation reaches the inn. After a Spanish dance, the Granadans are greeted by Falsacappa as the captain of the carabinieri and Piétro as the Baron de Campotasso. Gloria-Cassis asks about the three million payment but then Fragoletto and Fiorella (as the innkeeper and his lover) enter. The Granadans become confused when told to retire to bed (at two in the afternoon) but do as they are told. Once out of their clothes, the brigands go for them for the next disguise. The innkeeper escapes his bonds and cries for help, but the brigands prevail over the carabinieri who, locked in the cellars, have helped themselves to the wine. The brigands head off towards Mantua.
Act 3 A great hall at the court of Mantua The Duke is taking advantage of his last hours before marriage bidding farewell to his mistresses. The portrait he has received of his bride reminds him of the peasant girl who assisted him in the mountains (and for whom he has been searching ever since). The Duke is also keen to pay off his debt of three million little knowing that his treasurer Antonio has been spending the ducal money on women of his own.
When the fake Granadan delegation arrives led by Falsacappa, the Duke is delighted to see Fiorella again, and she recognizes him as the stranger lost in the mountains. Fiorella, playing the princess of Grenade introduces Fragoletto as her page.