Mademoiselle Fifi
Music by César Cui · premiered 1903
Mademoiselle Fifi (Мадмуазель Фифи in Cyrillic; Madmuazel' Fifi in transliteration) is an opera in one act, composed by César Cui during 1902–1903. The libretto was adapted by the composer from the short story Mademoiselle Fifi (1882) by Guy de Maupassant and the dramatized version Mlle Fifi (1896) by Oscar Méténier. The opera was premiered on 4 November 1903 (Old Style) at the Hermitage Theatre by the Moscow Private Opera.
During its performing history it was also known under the title Женщина из Руана [Ženščina iz Ruana) = The Woman from Rouen].
The opera was widely performed in Imperial Russia and had special significance during World War I, largely because of its patriotic connotations in the struggle against Germany.
Despite this success and an adaptation produced during World War II, this opera seems not to have remained in the standard operatic repertoire afterwards in Russia and not to have been performed in the West. In the music for the opera Cui borrows some French and German tunes, including the tune of the refrain from "Die Wacht am Rhein" for the German soldiers.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Mademoiselle Fifi (opera)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
César Antonovich Cui (Russian: Цезарь Антонович Кюи, romanized: Tsezar Antonovich Kyui; IPA: [ˈt͡sjezərʲ ɐnˈtonəvʲɪt͡ɕ kʲʊˈi] ; French: Cesarius Benjaminus Cui; 18 January [O.S. 6 January] 1835 – 26 March 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic, member of the Belyayev circle and The Five – a group of composers gathered by the idea of creating a specifically Russian type of music. As an officer of the Imperial Russian Army, he rose to the rank of Engineer-General (equivalent to full General), taught fortifications in Russian military academies and wrote a number of monographs on the subject.
Text from the Wikipedia article "César Cui", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by César Cui
- Angelo (1871)
- Le flibustier (1888)
- A Feast in Time of Plague (1900)
- Mateo Falcone (1906)
- Little Red Riding Hood (1911)
- Ivan the Fool (1913)
- Puss in Boots (1913)