About the work
A one-act operetta (opéra-comique) by Georges Bizet to a libretto by Léon Battu and Ludovic Halévy, loosely based on Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy St. Patrick's Day. Bizet, only 18 at the time, wrote it for a competition for young composers organised by Jacques Offenbach; it premiered on 9 April 1857 at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in Paris.
Plot
Captain Silvio, forbidden by the Podestà from seeing his daughter Laurette, sneaks into the house disguised as the servant Pasquin and serves a disastrous omelette in the famous 'omelette quartet'. Returning as Doctor Miracle, he offers an antidote for the supposedly poisoned omelette and thereby forces the father's consent to the marriage.
Cultural significance
Of 78 entries to the competition, Bizet's setting shared first prize, awarded by a jury led by Daniel Auber, with that of his fellow student Charles Lecocq; the two settings of the same libretto alternated for eleven performances at the Bouffes-Parisiens.