Fortunio (opera)
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Fortunio is a comédie lyrique or opera in four acts (originally five) and five tableaux by the French composer André Messager. The libretto by Gaston Arman de Caillavet and Robert de Flers is based on Alfred de Musset's 1835 comedy Le Chandelier.
It was first performed by the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Favart in Paris, on 5 June 1907, and remained part of the regular repertory until the 1940s. In recent years it has been revived in several productions in France and other countries.
The opera has no spoken dialogue and comprises completely sung recitative and arias. Fortunio, clerk to the lawyer Maître André, becomes the decoy for an affair between Jacqueline – the lawyer's wife – and Clavaroche, an army officer, Fortunio falls in love with Jacqueline before discovering what is going on between her and the officer. Eventually she falls for Fortunio's innocent charm and sends Clavaroche away.