Jean-Robert Planquette was born in Paris on July 31, 1848. He attended
the Paris Conservatory after which he supported himself by writing
popular songs and chansonettes for Parisian _café-concerts_. He started
writing operettas in 1874, and achieved world fame with _The Chimes of
Normandy_ in 1877. He wrote many more operettas after that, the most
successful being _Rip Van Winkle_ (1882), _Nell Gwynne_ (1884) and
_Mam’zelle Quat’Sous_ (1897). He died in Paris on January 28, 1903.
_The Chimes of Normandy_ (_Les Cloches de Corneville_) is one of the
most famous French operettas of all time, and it is still occasionally
revived. Introduced in Paris at the Folies Dramatiques on April 19,
1877, its success was so immediate and permanent that within a decade it
had been given over a thousand times in Paris alone. It was first seen
in New York in 1877, and in London in 1888, major successes in both
places. The book by Clairville and Gabet presents the life of fishing
and peasant folk in Normandy during the regime of Louis XV. Germaine is
in love with the fisherman, Jean, but finds opposition in her miserly
old uncle, Gaspard, who has other plans for her. To escape her uncle,
Germaine finds employment with Henri, a Marquis, who has suddenly
returned to his native village to take up residence in the family castle
rumored to be haunted. The mystery of the haunted castle is cleared up
when the discovery is made that Gaspard has used it to hide his gold;
and the bells of the castle begin to ring out loud and clear again.
Gaspard, after a brief siege with insanity, is made to sanction the
marriage of Germaine and Jean at a magnificent festival honoring the
Marquis; at the same time it is suddenly uncovered that Germaine is in
reality a Marchioness.
This is an operetta overflowing with ear-caressing melodies. The most
famous are Germaine’s bell song, “_Nous avons, hélas, perdu d’excellence
maîtres_”; the Marquis’ lilting waltz-rondo, “_Même sans consulter mon
coeur_”; and Serpolette’s cider song, “_La Pomme est un fruit plein de
sève_.”