About the work
La Périchole is an opéra comique in three acts by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Its original two-act version premiered on 6 October 1868 at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris; an expanded three-act version followed at the same theatre in 1874.
Plot
In colonial Lima, the itinerant street singer Périchole catches the eye of the Viceroy of Peru, who has her brought to his court. To keep up appearances he has her hastily married to her penniless companion, the singer Piquillo. Only after mix-ups, jealousy and a spell in prison do the two find their way back to each other.
Cultural significance
The libretto loosely draws on a historical liaison between Viceroy Manuel de Amat y Juniet and the actress Micaela Villegas, known as 'La Perricholi'. The operetta became one of Offenbach's most successful later works and was specifically enlarged for its 1874 revival.