About the work
Comédie mêlée d'ariettes in two acts by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, libretto by Charles-Georges Fenouillot de Falbaire de Quingey. It premiered at the royal court in Fontainebleau on 27 October 1770, followed by the Paris premiere at the Comédie-Italienne on 6 December 1770.
Plot
In Smyrna, the miserly Gripon and Martin dig through the ruins of a pyramid in search of a supposed treasure. Their quarrel over the find ends with each locking the other in. Gripon's niece Henriette and Martin's nephew Jérôme, who love each other, free the two men and thereby force their consent to marry.
Cultural significance
Received rather cautiously at first, Les deux avares became one of Grétry's most frequently performed stage works during the 19th and 20th centuries and is considered one of his musically densest comic scores.