page_title: La Périchole
section_title: Performance history
hierarchical_section_title: La Périchole / Performance history
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Hortense Schneider dans La Périchole
context_page_description: La Périchole is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French-language libretto based on the 1829 one act play Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on 13 March 1850 at the Théâtre-Français. Offenbach was probably aware of this production, as he conducted the orchestra of the Comédie-Française from around this time. Another theatrical creation that pre-dates Offenbach's opéra bouffe and may have influenced the piece is a farce by Desforges and Théaulon given on 21 October 1835 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal.
  La Périchole's title character is based on Micaela Villegas, a beloved 18th century Peruvian entertainer and the famous mistress of Manuel de Amat y Juniet, Viceroy of Peru from 1761 to 1776. The story concerns two impoverished Peruvian street-singers, too poor to afford a marriage license, and a lecherous viceroy, Don Andrès de Ribeira, who wishes to make La Périchole his mistress.
  The score is in what Andrew Lamb calls Offenbach's "most charming", rather than satirical style, with boleros, seguidillas and galops to provide the exotic backdrop.
context_section_description: Early productions
  The work premiered, in a two-act version, on 6 October 1868, at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris, with Hortense Schneider in the title role and José Dupuis as Piquillo.  The three-act version premiered at the same theater on 25 April 1874, again starring Schneider and Dupuis. A revival of the revised version took place at the Théâtre des Variétés on 9 March 1877 with Anna Judic in the title role, with Dupuis and Dailly. It was not seen again in Paris until 1895, but has been staged regularly in France since then.
  Outside France, La Périchole was first seen in Brussels on 5 December 1868, then in New York City at Pike's Opera House on 4 January 1869, Vienna on 9 January 1869, Stockholm on 6 February 1869, and London on 27 June 1870 at the Princess's Theatre, with South American premieres in Rio de Janeiro in 1869 and Buenos Aires in 1870. It also had a run in New York City at the Grand Opera House beginning on 18 January 1871.  La Périchole played a part in the development of English comic opera when, on 25 March 1875 at the Royalty Theatre in London, it played (in English) on a triple bill with Charles Collette's one-act farce Cryptoconchoidsyphonostomata and Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury, the latter of which was written specifically to be a companion piece for La Périchole.  Trial became a hit and led to the famous series of Savoy Operas.
  Broadcasts
  La Périchole has been produced on French television and radio over many years. The first radio broadcast was in 1928, then, among others 1946 and 1949 (with Fanély Revoil), 1950 (with Denise Duval and Joseph Peyron), and 1968 with Maria Murano, Michel Caron and Jean Brun. The first televised broadcast was in 1952 (with Revoil and Lenoty), then a recording of a performance at the Gaîté-Lyrique in June 1956 with Murano, and in 1971 (from the Théâtre de Paris) and 1981 (from the Carpentras Festival).
  The Metropolitan Opera production
  On 21 December 1956, the Metropolitan Opera premiered a new version that included interpolations from other scores and turned the speaking role of the Old Prisoner into a singing role for a comic tenor.  The title role was changed from mezzo-soprano to coloratura soprano, and Piquillo, renamed Paquillo, was changed from tenor to high baritone.  The production was directed by Cyril Ritchard and starred Patrice Munsel in the title role, Theodor Uppman as Paquillo, and Ritchard himself as Andres. There were a total of 54 performances of the version through the last Met performance in Detroit on 27 May 1971.  Munsel sang in 21 performances, Teresa Stratas sang in 16 of the performances in the title role, Uppman appeared in all the performances, and Ritchard sang in 49 of the performances.
caption: Hortense Schneider as La Périchole (1868) by Reutlinger
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