Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança is a one-act 'tableau grotesque' or 'grotesque scene' with music by Hervé after Cervantes,Traubner, Richard. Operetta — a theatrical history. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1983. first produced in 1847, which has been dubbed ‘the first French operetta’, and a precursor of the opéra bouffe.
Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança was conceived as a vehicle for Desiré, a friend of Hervé, who had requested a piece for a benefit performance. Desiré, short and plump as Sancho, was pitted against the tall and thin Quichotte of Hervé. The piece was staged the following year on 6 March 1848 at Adolphe Adam's Opéra-National at the Cirque Olympique (with Hervé again playing Quichotte, and Joseph Kelm as Sancho), in a double-bill with Les barricades de 1848.Walsh TJ. Second Empire Opera – The Théâtre-Lyrique Paris 1851-1870. John Calder Ltd, London, 1981.
Hervé recalled that the success of his piece led to the tunes becoming very popular in the vaudevilles of Paris and hummed all around the city. The most popular couplet was:Quoted on page 40 of Gazette Anecdotique, Littéraire, Artistique et Bibliographique. 6ème année, Tome II. G. d’Heylli, Paris, 1881. Je sais que les filles Sont vraiment gentilles Et que tous les drilles En sont amoureux. Mais sous l'aubépine, La corde argentine De ma mandoline Sait me rendre heureux; Oui, ma guitarine Sait me rendre heureux.
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