About the work
One-act opéra bouffe by Jacques Ibert to a libretto by Michel Jean Veber ('Nino'), composed between February and May 1926 and premiered on 28 January 1927 at the Théâtre Bériza (Théâtre Fémina) in Paris.
Plot
In a French port town, Boniface is so fed up with his quarrelsome wife Angélique that he puts her up for sale. An Italian, an Englishman and an African buyer each purchase her in turn but quickly return her – even the Devil, her last buyer, cannot stand her. Only once no one is left willing to take her does Angélique become docile; Boniface's closing remark, however, leaves open whether her transformation will last.
Cultural significance
'Angélique' became Ibert's most successful stage opera and remains his most frequently performed work for the theatre: by 1972 it had received 110 performances at the Opéra-Comique alone and was staged across Europe and the Americas, usually paired with other short operas.