Xavier LEROUX (1863-1919). Autograph music manuscript signed - Lot 115

Xavier LEROUX (1863-1919). Autograph music manuscript signed, La Fille de Figaro, [1914]; approx. 520 pages in-fol. Orchestral score for this comic opera in 3 acts (Act I is missing). Based on a libretto by Maurice Hennequin and Hugues Delorme, La Fille de Figaro premiered on March 10, 1914 at the Apollo Theater, with Jane Marnac in the title role of Figarella, conducted by Aymé Kunc. Reynaldo Hahn, in Le Journal of March 12, 1914, gave a glowing review of La Fille de Figaro: we don't see Figaro, who is dead, but he is constantly present in our memory; we find him younger, more charming than ever in the guise of Figarella, his daughter, to whom he has bequeathed, along with his dexterity in handling the razor and the bearded dish, his devotion to lovers and his genial ability to come to their aid. On the other hand, Chérubin is returned to us, but Chérubin married, in his sixties, an ambassador and almost cheated on by his wife [...] M. Xavier Leroux, as a shrewd artist, has not failed to imitate his witty collaborators in their legitimate bias of quotations and references, and as a skilled musician he has done so with impeccable tact and measure. Here is a vibrant echo of Rossini, further on a fleeting reminder of Bizet, elsewhere still a rhythm or three notes of Mozart, whose delicious charm spreads for a few seconds like the precious perfume of a bottle suddenly uncorked. But these reminiscences, so skilfully brought in and then erased, occupy only a tiny place in this very dense score for a simple comic opera - and sometimes even a little overloaded. The score contains a large number of pieces, many of them charming and many of them excellent, but all of them testifying to the fact that this is a work dominated by its author by the very distance that separates the latter's artistic personality from the genre to which, by way of relaxation and recreation, it has momentarily adapted itself. The result is a real sense of security, and as well as enjoying Mr. Leroux's music, which is by turns exuberant, parodic and tender, we are amused to discover the details in which his robust and serious talent has indulged in this vein of playfulness, and to observe the ingenious means employed by his superiorly expert pen to give a reduced orchestra both fluidity and power. The manuscript was used as a conductor, as evidenced by annotations in red or blue pencil. It also bears traces of alterations: corrections, passages crossed out, numbers changed or deleted (folded or pinned sheets), etc. It includes the following numbers: Act II. Intermission. Nos. 8 Les Marchandes de frivolités, 9 et 9 bis Rondo de Chérubin, 10 Couplets de la Parisienne, 11 Quintette, 12 Chanson du z homard, 13 Couplets de la Marquise, 14 Scène de la révérence, La Pavane, La Gigue, 15 Duetto de Miguel et de Figarella, 16-17, 18 Final (signed at the end by X. Leroux). Act III. Intermission. Nos 19 Chœur des clients du Panier fleuri, Le pas du porto, and Scène du pas espagnol (Castillane), 20 Couplets du sourire, 21 Couplets de Miguel, 22 Couplets de Chérubin, 23 Chanson gitane, 24 Couplets de Sanchez, 25 Ariette de Figarella (Berceuse d'amour), 26 autre ariette de Figarella (coupé), 27 Final.