page_title: La fille du tambour-major
section_title: The garden of a convent school in the town of Biella.
hierarchical_section_title: La fille du tambour-major / Synopsis / Act I / The garden of a convent school in the town of Biella.
caption_attribution_description: English: Simon-Max in original production of La fille du tambour-major
context_page_description: La fille du tambour-major is an opéra comique in three acts, with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot. It was one of the composer's last works, premiered less than a year before his death. It opened at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, Paris, on 13 December 1879, and, after a successful initial run, was frequently revived in Paris and internationally, but in recent times has not been among the Offenbach operas most frequently staged.
  The plot, which has elements in common with Gaetano Donizetti's 1840 comic opera La fille du régiment, depicts a young woman discovering her real identity, renouncing her aristocratic upbringing, and marrying a dashing soldier.
context_section_description: The convent is in a war zone, as the revolutionary French army and the occupying Austrians fight for possession of the territory. As the French forces advance, the Mother Superior of the convent moves her pupils to safety in a more secure buildings, forgetting that one pupil, Stella, has been left behind, locked up in the linen cupboard as a punishment for singing a seditious, anti-Austrian, pro-French song. The French troops arrive, led by Lieutenant Robert; among their number are the drummer, Griolet, and the drum major, Monthabor. The men are tired, hungry and thirsty. Their vivandière, Claudine, cannot help them, as her supplies of food and drink have run out. The soldiers raid the convent's stores, and in doing so they find Stella. She is rather frightened at first, but the charm of the dashing Lieutenant Robert reassures her, and she offers to prepare a meal for them all.
  The obvious mutual attraction of Robert and Stella annoys Claudine, who is much attracted to the lieutenant. She, in turn, is oblivious to the devotion of the ex-tailor Griolet, who tries in vain to engage her interest. The genial Monthabor is unimpressed with all talk of romance and marriage. He tells his comrades that in civilian life, when he was a dyer in Paris, he met a pretty washerwoman, and married her – a grave mistake as she was impossible to live with and they divorced a few years later. She vanished, taking their only child, a daughter, with her. The soldiers eat the excellent meal Stella has made for them, and march on, somewhat reluctantly on Robert's part, as he is loth to leave Stella. Once the French have left, the Duc della Volta and the effete Marquis Ernesto Bambini enter. The marquis has a financial hold over the duc, who is accordingly willing to allow Bambini to marry Stella. Suddenly the garden fills with people. The Mother Superior and her girls have been unable to reach their intended sanctuary and return, surrounded by the French soldiers. The duc is scandalised when he learns that Stella has been left alone with a detachment of enemy troops, but she firmly defends their conduct towards her. The duc angrily hustles her away.
caption: Simon-Max as Griolet
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