Mârouf, savetier du Caire

Mârouf, savetier du Caire (Marouf, Cobbler of Cairo) is an opéra comique by the French composer Henri Rabaud. The libretto, by Lucien Nepoty, is based on a tale from the Arabian Nights. Mârouf was first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Paris, on 15 May 1914. The premiere was a great success and Mârouf became Rabaud's most popular opera. The score makes great use of oriental colour. The Western Hemisphere premiere of Mârouf was given at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires on July 24, 1917, with Armand Crabbé as Mârouf, Ninon Vallin as Saamcheddine, and Marcel Journet as the Sultan, conducted by Gino Marinuzzi. The United States premiere of the opera was given at the Metropolitan Opera on December 19, 1917, with Giuseppe De Luca in the title role, Frances Alda as Princess Saamcheddine, and Pierre Monteux conducting. The Viennese premiere was at the Vienna State Opera on 24 January 1929, with Josef Kalenberg and Margit Angerer ("who received the most applause"), and Franz Schalk conducting.

The opera was revived at the Opéra-Comique in 2013 in a production by Jérôme Deschamps, with Jean-Sébastien Bou in the title role, conducted by Alain Altinoglu.

Roles

Synopsis

The hen-pecked cobbler Mârouf decides to join a group of sailors and travels to Khaïtân where he pretends to be a rich merchant awaiting the arrival of his caravan. The sultan is impressed and offers him the hand of his daughter Saamcheddine. Mârouf's deception is discovered and he flees, followed by the princess, who has fallen in love with him. They find a mysterious ring which gives Mârouf power over a magician. The magician grants Mârouf's wish for the caravan he boasted about to become reality. The sultan is appeased, pardons Mârouf and allows him to marry Saamcheddine.

References

Sources

• The Viking Opera Guide, ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
• Del Teatro (in Italian)
• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Mârouf, 15 May 1914". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
• Mârouf, savetier du Caire: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

1. One Thousand and One Nights
2. Henri Rabaud
3. List of works influenced by One Thousand and One Nights
4. Opéra-Comique
5. Ahmed and Paribanou
6. 1914 in music
7. Jean Périer
8. Claudine Arnaud
9. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights
10. List of premieres at the Metropolitan Opera
11. Marouf, the Cairo Cobbler
12. Eustase Thomas-Salignac
13. Recollections of the Arabian Nights
14. 1947 Cannes Film Festival
15. Pierre Monteux
16. Abou Hassan (story)
17. Félix Vieuille
18. Jérôme Deschamps
19. List of operas by composer
20. May 1914