The Madcap Duchess

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The Madcap Duchess is a comic opera in two acts with book and lyrics by David Stevens and Justin Huntly McCarthy and music by Victor Herbert. It was first presented at the Lyceum Theatre, Rochester, N.Y. on 13 October 1913, and given its New York premiere at the Globe Theatre on 11 November 1913.

Dramatis Personæ

RENAUD (Prince of St. Pol in Artois)

Mr. Glenn Hall

VIDAME DE BETHUNE
M. DE SECHERAT

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(Guardians of Seraphina)

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Mr. J. Russell Powell
Mr. Gilbert Clayton

MASTER HARDI (Manager of the Regent's Players)	Mr. Harry Macdonough
LOUIS XV (King of France)	Master Percy Helton
PHILIP OF ORLEANS (Regent)	Mr. Francis K. Lieb
WATTEAU (Court Painter)	Mr. David Andrada
DUC DE PONTSABLE (Marshal of France)	Mr. Edmond Mulcahy
CANILLAC (Captain of the King's Musketeers)	Mr. Henry Vincent
ADAM (Proprietor of the Windmill Inn)	Mr. Herbert Ayling
PANACHE (Sergeant of the King's Musketeers)	Mr. Herbert Gantvoort

CORALINE
ZERBINE
SPAVENTO
TARTAGALIA

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(of the Regent's Players)

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Miss Virginia Carvel
Miss Virginia Allen
Mr. Mario Rogati
Mr. Alex Gibson

SHEPHERDESSES	{ { { {	Miss Billy Williamson Miss Glen Ellis Miss Harriet Breen Miss Mina Martrit
SHEPHERDS	{ { { {	Mr. Maurice Avery Mr. Jack Elliott Mr. Sven Erick Mr. B. Foster

STEPHANIE (Marquise de Phalaris)	Miss Josephine Whittell
GILETTE (Serving-Maid at the Windmill Inn)	Miss Peggy Wood
SERAPHINA (Duchess of Bapaume in Artois)	Miss Ann Swinburne

MIDI Files

Overture

ACT I - Garden of the Windmill Inn.
Early morning in the autumn of 1720.

No. 1 - Opening Ensemble - "The sun is a-slant and the day is at dawn, so early in the morning..."
No. 2 - Romanza - Renaud and Musketeers - "Ten thousand furies seize my horse! That he must cast a shoe..."
No. 3 - Song - Seraphina - "Love and I are playing, such a game are playing, he will try to take me unaware, my heart betraying..."
No. 4 - Scene and Duo - Seraphina and Renaud - "The deuce, young man! But not so fast! ... Come on, we're wasting time..."
No. 5 - Song - De Secherat - "As Department Secretary I have found it necessary, when I'm called upon to exercise my wit..."
No. 6 - Hunting Song - Stephanie, Philip and Chorus - "Oh, up! It's up at the break of day, away! It's up and into the saddle..."
No. 7 - Song - Seraphina and Chorus - "The story of Love has a pedigree that dates from the primal birth..."
No. 8 - Song - Hardi and Players - "You observe the grand commotion I excite when I arrive? That is Art! ..."
No. 9 - Scene and Ensemble - Hardi, Seraphina and Players - "Companions, I have summoned you to hear, and so to judge..."
No. 10 - Finale Act I - "A clown! Never! ... There is no time to waste! Choose! ... The drummer beats his rat-tat-tat-tat-tat..."

Vocal Score Cover

ACT II - Theatre in the Garden of Versailles. Evening.

Entr'acte No. 11 - Ensemble, with Hardi, Seraphina and Renaud - "Now is the south-wind blowing sweetly over the scented flow'r..."
No. 11a - Interlude during change of scene
No. 12 - Madrigal - Seraphina and Chorus - "'Twas sweet Babette in a field of rye ... Babette of Beaujolais..."
No. 13 - Song - Renaud - "Oh, tell me, how shall I know the one, the only one whose beauty a golden web has spun..."
No. 14 - Duo - Hardi, Stephanie and Chorus - "You wouldn't believe that my waistcoat hides a heart that is ever young..."
No. 15 - Duet - Watteau and Seraphina, with Shepherd Chorus - "Far up the hill, all masterless, the sheep are browsing free..."
No. 16 - Duet - Renaud and Seraphina - "Why does the nightingale sigh for the rose, the moonflow'r turn to the moon? ..."
No. 17 - Finale Act II - "Love is a story that's told, told, the best one that ever was told..."

MIDI files

External Link: Vocal Score at Musopen

American Musical Theatre

Page modified 23 November 2016