Title   Les Dragons de Villars Composer   Aimé Maillart (1817 - 1871) Librettists   Joseph Philippe Lockroy and Eugène Cormon Genre   Opéra-comique, light opera (three acts). First performance   Théâtre Lyrique, Paris, 19 - 9 -1856. Time of action   1704 (during the reign of Louis XIV) Place of action      I.            A farmyard, southeastern France    II.           Wild mountainous landscape with ruined chapel    III.          A village street. Main parts   Thibaut bass/baritone     Georgette, his wife soprano     Rose Friquet (coloratura) soprano     Sylvain tenor     Belamy bass/baritone Prominence of chorus   Considerable Orchestra   2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns,            2 trumpets, 3 trombones, drums/percussion, strings. Special demands   A practicable dovecote Full score and orchestral parts   Full score and orchestral parts available. Level   Quite feasible for amateurs. The part of Rose Friquet requires an agile soprano. Length   3 acts, about 2½ hours in all. Music   Very attractive music, beautifully orchestrated. Rose's arias have figured in the repertoire of prominent sopranos. Highlights: a boisterous trumpet-finale, the poignant chorus of fugitives, and a comic trio in act II (the hermit's bell). Story   In the village Rose Friquet is feared and despised for her eccentric behaviour. However, it is due to her that a group of fugitive Protestants safely reaches the Savoy border, along a wild and dangerous mountain track. To delude the dragoons she plays a clever game with the bell in a ruined chapel: local superstition has it that the ghost of a hermit rings this bell whenever somebody's wife is unfaithful. This results in an amusing scene when one of the dragoons, Belamy, has a rendez-vous with Georgette, amorous wife of a farmer in the village. The third act takes on extra dramatic force when Rose's lover Sylvain suspects her of having betrayed the fugitives, a misunderstanding that is happily solved at the end of the opera. Costumes   Chorus: villagers, dragoons, fugitives. Note   The name Villars refers to the title of the dragoons' commander, the Duke of Villars.