L'oiseau bleu (The Blue Bird) is an opera in four acts (eight tableaux) by the French composer and conductor Albert Wolff. The libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck is based on his 1908 play of the same name. Boris Anisfeld designed the sets.
Performance history It was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 27 December 1919.Spieth-Weissenbacher, C. "Albert Wolff" in: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. S. Sadie. London & New York, Macmillan, 1997.
Maeterlinck, the playwright and Nobel laureate, was present at the premiere, which, in the immediate aftermath of World War I, was a benefit for four charities: the Queen of the Belgians Fund, the Millerand Fund for French Orphans, the Three Big Sister Organizations (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish), and the Milk for the Children of America Fund. Kobbé, G. The Complete Opera Book, p. 851.
The first Belgian performance was on 21 April 1920,Loewenberg, A. Annals of Opera. London: John Calder, 1978. and it was revived at the Théâtre de la Monnaie on 14 February 1956, conducted by the composer.'Computerised Archival Retrieval in Multimedia Enhanced Networking' - The digital opera archives of La Monnaie. http://carmen.demunt.be/ accessed 11 September 2008.
Roles RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 27 December 1919 Conductor: Albert WolffTyltylmezzo-sopranoRaymonde Delaunois MytylsopranoMary Ellis Mother TylsopranoFlorence EastonFather TylbaritonePaolo AnanianGrandmother Tylmezzo-sopranoLouise Berat Grandfather TylbassLéon RothierMaternal LovesopranoFlorence EastonJoy of UnderstandingsopranoGladys AxmanLightmezzo-sopranoFlora PeriniFather TimebassLeon RothierBreadbaritoneMario LaurentiMilksopranoMarie TiffanyThe little girlsopranoEdna KelloggTwo little loversmezzo-soprano, contraltoMinnie Egener, Helena MarshJoy of Being Just -Margaret FarnhamJoy of Seeing What is Beautifulmezzo-sopranoCecil ArdenThe fairycontraltoJeanne GordonNightmezzo-sopranoFrances IngramThe catsopranoMargaret RomaineThe dog -Robert CouzinouMme BerlingotcontraltoJeanne GordonHappinesssopranoMary MellishThe child -Ada VosariSugartenorOctave DuaFiretenorAngelo BadàAnother child -Miss KennedyFirst child -Miss BelleriSecond child -Miss FlorenceThird child -Miss BorniggiaFourth childsopranoPhyllis WhiteFifth child -Miss Manetti
Synopsis Tyltyl and Mytyl are the children of a poor wood-chopper. At Christmas there is no tree or Christmas stocking for them. When the parents believe them safely tucked up in bed, the children creep out and watch through the window the preparations being made for the holiday in a wealthy neighbour’s home across the way.
While they are absorbed in this, Fairy Berylune enters. She is a witch who demands from the children that they bring her the grass that sings, and the bird that is blue so that her own little child who is sick may be restored to health and happiness. Upon agreeing to find the bird, the fairy crowns Tyltyl with a magic cap set with a wonderful diamond, which has power to disclose the past and future, and to turn inanimate objects and animals into speaking creatures. Everything around the children begins to take life and voice: milk, sugar, light, bread, the fire, cat and dog.
Suddenly the window opens and the children set off on their quest. They go first to the Land of Memory, then the Palace of the Night, Garden of Happiness, the Cemetery and then the Kingdom of the Future, but cannot capture the blue bird. They return home to bed.
When morning comes, a neighbour who looks like the Fairy enters to beg for a blue bird so that her sick child may be cured by the sight of it. Looking around, the children are amazed to see that their own turtle dove has turned blue. They gladly offer it for the sick child, and with the gift the invalid’s spirits return. When Tyltyl asks for its return and the child shows reluctance to give it back, the blue bird escapes from both and flies off.
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