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Vent-du-Soir ou l’Horrible Festin
(Häuptling Abendwind / Evening Breeze, or the Horrible Feast) (1857)Libretto by Philippe Gille; German version by Johann Nestroy; new edition by Mathias Spohr (F,G)
S,2T,Bar,speaking role; chorus;
2(II=picc).1.2.1-2.2.1.0-timp.perc-strings
Abbreviations (PDF)
B&B
Bouffes-Parisiens, Salle Choiseul, Paris
Company: Désiré, Léonce, Tayau, Garnier
| EVENING BREEZE THE MILD, chieftain of the Great Lulu | Buffo Baritone |
| ATALA, his daughter | Soprano |
| BEAVER COCK THE FIERCE, chieftain of the Papatutu | Buffo Tenor |
| ARTHUR, a stranger | Lyric Tenor |
| HO-GU, a cook with Evening Breeze | Speaking role |
| Great Lulu and Papatutu people |
One of the most remote islands of Australia
Political tension between the Great Lulu and the Papatutu tribes could not be worse, for the chieftains accuse each other of having eaten the other's wife. A state visit by Beaver Cock to Evening Breeze is fixed in order to solve the conflict in a diplomatic way. But what shall Evening Breeze offer his princely guest at the banquet? There are no prisoners left and no criminal is at hand. Just at that moment a person who has been shipwrecked is washed ashore and is immediately handed over to the cook. But the victim is none other than Arthur, Beaver Cock's son. He has been seeking his father, who was lost overseas years ago, and is now – oh cruel fate – about to be prepared for his father's main course. Arthur's life is saved by his knowledge of hair-styling and a musical box, two things which finally bring about reconciliation among the rival tribes, sealed for all time by Arthur’s and Princess Atala's wedding.
Comic