| French: La fée Urgèle | |
| Type: | Opéra comique |
| Composer: | Egidio Duni |
| Librettist: | Charles-Simon Favart |
| Translated Name: | The Fairy Urgèle |
| Language: | French |
| Based On: |
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| Premiere Location: | Théâtre Royal de la Cour, Palace of Fontainebleau |
La fée Urgèle, ou Ce qui plaît aux dames (The Fairy Urgèle, or What Pleases Women) is an opéra comique (specifically a comédie mêlée d'ariettes) in four acts by the composer Egidio Duni. The libretto, by Charles-Simon Favart, is based on Voltaire's and Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Tale".
The opera was first performed at the Théâtre Royal de la Cour at the Palace of Fontainebleau on 26 October 1765. The elaborate medieval staging cost 20,000 livres according to Grimm in his Correspondance littéraire. It was revived at the Comédie-Italienne on 4 December 1765 and given over 100 times in the following years, popularizing medieval settings for other operas such as André Grétry's Aucassin et Nicolette (1779) and Richard Coeur-de-lion (1784).
The opera was revived at the Opéra Comique for 8 performances from 12–20 April 1991 by Les Arts Florissants ensemble under the baton of Christophe Rousset and with Monique Zanetti in the title role.[1] and preceded by La répétition interrompue, also by Favart. The production toured Caen, Montpellier, Colmar, Mulhouse, and Strasbourg in February 1994.
Robert is a knight imprisoned in a 7th-century French court controlled by women. He must answer the question: what gives the most pleasure to women? He is obliged to agree to marry an old woman who is then transformed into the beautiful Marton.