Tenor Franck Cassard; baritone Philippe Fourcade; soprano Marie Saint-Palais; conductor Michel Swierczewski; Picardy Regional Orchestra "La Sinfonietta"
Operetta in one act by Emmanuel Chabrier to a libretto by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo; Paris, Cercle de la Presse, 1 May 1879 (private performance); Paris, Théâtre des Arts, 9 January 1913 (public performance).
Gontran (soprano or tenor), a young gentleman in 18th-century Paris, has just married Hélène (mezzo-soprano). He asks his old tutor, Pausanias (bass), for advice on how to proceed, as his education has not covered certain facts (e.g., the "facts of life"). Pausanias admits that, while knowledgeable in every other branch of science, he does not know anything about marriage. He goes to find out the facts, but before his return, Gontran and Hélène discover them without assistance.
Why this charming little work had to wait so many years for a public performance remains a total mystery. The subject is treated with the greatest delicacy; the casting of the young man Gontran as a travesty role – an accepted convention of the period – surely removes any cause for offence. Musically, the piece is quite enchanting, in particular the central duet for the two high voices, while the bass has a fine comic number.
Elizabeth Forbes. "Education manquée, Une." New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 9 Sep. 2008
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