Le Droit d'Aînesse

Le Droit d'Aînesse ("The Birthright") is a French opéra bouffe in three acts by composer Francis Chassaigne (or François Chassaigne) with a French libretto by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo.

(In French the title would normally be written Le droit d'aînesse)

The original text

The French original premiered in Paris in 1883.

Translations and adaptations

The English-language version of the libretto, titled Falka (after the name of the principal female character), was translated and adapted by Henry Brougham Farnie (1836–1889)[1].

Falka premiered at the Royal Comedy Theatre, London in 1883, the Casino Theatre, New York, 1884 and was followed by productions throughout the English-speaking world.

Performance history in South Africa

Sources

Cecil A. Smith and Glenn Litton. 1987. Musical Comedy in America: From The Black Crook to South Pacific, From The King & I to Sweeney Todd. Routledge (reprinted 2013)[2]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Antique-Comedy-Theatre-Romance-45MAR1/dp/B0014H2NGM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_droit_d%27a%C3%AEnesse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Brougham_Farnie

D.C. Boonzaier. 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p. 413.

Go to ESAT Bibliography