About the work
Jacques Offenbach's „Barkouf" was premiered at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 1860, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Henry Boisseaux. The opéra-bouffe is famous for its grotesque premise: a despotic ruler appoints a dog as governor of a rebellious city. The biting satire on authority and arbitrary rule caused a stir already at its premiere.
Plot
The Great Mogul is weary of the constant uprisings of the city of Lahore. To humiliate his unruly subjects, he summarily installs his dog Barkouf as the new governor. The orders of the „governor" are interpreted by the young flower-seller Maïma, the only one who knows how to calm the animal and who loves her sweetheart Saëb. What was meant as mockery of the citizens turns into its opposite: Maïma construes the dog's whims as wise, humane policy — taxes are lowered, injustice is removed, the people prosper. Amid palace intrigues, military tumult and the confusions of love, the opera exposes the arbitrariness of the powerful, until in the end all turns out well.
Cultural significance
„Barkouf" fell into long oblivion after a few performances — partly because of its provocative political satire. Only in the twenty-first century was the work rediscovered and newly staged, among other places at the Opéra national du Rhin (2018). Today it is regarded as an unusually cheeky example of Offenbach's early social satire and a forerunner of his great operetta successes.