Title   La Fille de Madame Angot Composer   Charles Lecocq (1832 - 1918) Librettists   Clairville, Siraudin and Victor Koning Genre   Opera (three acts) First performance   Théâtre des Fantaisies Parisiennes, Brussels, 4 December 1872. Time of action   Shortly after the French revolution. Paris between 1795 and 1799. Place of action   A square at the Halles in Paris An elegant drawing room. Garden of a café at Belleville, near Paris. Main parts   Clairette Angot soprano     Mademoiselle Lange mezzosoprano     Pomponnet, wigmaker tenor     Ange Pitou, singer tenor     Larivaudière, banker (comic) baritone     Louchard, Chief of Police bass     Amaranthe, fish-wife soprano or mezzo-soprano     Thrénitz, dancer tenor or baritone Prominence of chorus   Very large. Orchestra   2 flutes, 1 oboe, 2 clarinets, 1 bassoon, 2 French horns,                 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, kettle-drums, percussion, strings. Special demands   If desired, a ballet may be inserted in the third act; the music for this is available at request (the score here requires a second bassoon). In the second finale of the opera a trumpet is sounded from behind the scenes. Full score and orchestral parts   Available. Level   Not difficult. Length   3 acts, about 2½ hours in all. Music   Extraordinarily charming, an entrancing stream of solos, duets, ensembles and choruses. Highlights: the song about Madame Angot, the great conspirators' scene and the so-called Angot-waltz ending the second act. In contrast to many operettas, the last act also contains much new and interesting music, and, if desired, a grand ballet-scene. Story   Madame Angot was a popular character, known from a number of plays: a fish-wife who managed to become a millionairess in the upheavals of the French revolution. The market-sellers of Paris have given Madame Angot's daughter, Clairette, an education and have also chosen a husband for her: Pomponnet, a wig-maker. Clairette, however, is in love with Ange Pitou, a street-singer with royalist sympathies. In the second act it appears that Clairette has a rival, Mlle Lange, an intriguer and patroness of Pitou. After many developments Clairette realizes that Pomponnet is not such a bad choice after all, and marries him. Costumes   First and third acts: townspeople. Second act: affectedly fashionable clothing of 1795.