About the work
Wenn ich König wär’ (Si j’étais roi) is an opéra comique in three acts by Adolphe Adam, with a libretto by Adolphe d’Ennery and Jules-Henri Brésil. It premiered on 4 September 1852 at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris, with a double cast performing on alternate nights, and reached over 170 performances within its first decade. In German-speaking countries it was first staged in 1904 in Breslau, sometimes under the title König für einen Tag (King for a Day).
Plot
In the coastal kingdom of Goa around 1520, the fisherman Zéphoris lives in seclusion, though he is in fact a deposed king. He loves the young Néméa, whom he once rescued from drowning without learning who she was. Through mistaken identities and a ruse concerning his true rank, the plot moves toward reconciliation: Zéphoris wins back both Néméa and his throne.
Cultural significance
Regarded by many connoisseurs as Adam's most musically mature score, Si j'étais roi is a rarity that has been rediscovered at individual German theatres since the 2000s, for instance in the 2023/24 season by the Theater für Niedersachsen in Hildesheim.