Le Chandelier Explained

Le Chandelier is an 1835 play in three acts by French dramatist Alfred de Musset.^[1]

The play was first published in 1835 in Revue des deux Mondes. It was first staged at the Théâtre Historique in August 1848 with Mademoiselle Maillet as Jacqueline.^[2] In October 1850, it was produced at the Comédie-Française with a cast including Delaunay as Fortunio and Allan as Jacqueline. In October 1850, the interior minister Léon Faucher had the work banned, a decision confirmed in subsequent seasons.^[3]

Jacques Offenbach, who wrote incidental music for the Comédie-Française production, made a sequel entitled La chanson de Fortunio. An opera of 1907 by André Messager, Fortunio, was based closely on the play.

Notes and References

1. Musset – Théâtre Tôme II 'Collection du Flambeau'. Hachette, Paris, 1954.
2. A note on the premiere, in the Œuvres complètes [''Lorenzaccio; Le Chandelier; Il ne faut jurer de rien'']. Charpentier, Paris, 1888, p319.
3. Alfred de Musset: Œuvres complètes [''Lorenzaccio; Le Chandelier; Il ne faut jurer de rien'']. Charpentier, Paris, 1888.