Title   Le Roi Carotte (King Carrot) Composer   Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1880) Librettist   Victorien Sardou (1831 - 1908) Genre   "Opérette-féerie", comic opera (three acts - eleven tableaux). First performance   Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris, January, 1872. Time of action   19th century. Place of action   a. in front of an inn, outside the city-wall b. a room inside a tower c. the royal palace, or its garden a. the wizard Quiribibi's study b. the ruins of Pompeii c. Pompeii before its destruction d. the royal palace e. the realm of insects a. the royal palace b. a market-square c. the royal palace. Main parts   Fridolin XXIV tenor or high baritone     Truck, necromancer bass-baritone (comic)     Pipertrunck, Chief of Police comic bass     Baron Koffre, Minister of Finance 2nd tenor     Trac, Field Marshall tenor     Robin-Luron, a genie mezzo-soprano (trouser role)     Princess Kunigonda mezzo-soprano     Rosée du Soir coloraturo soprano     King Carrot comic tenor Prominence of chorus   Large. Orchestra   2 flutes, 2 oboe, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns,              2 trumpets, 3 trombone, kettle-drums, percussion, strings. Special demands   A military band on stage (optional). Full score and orchestral parts   Available. Level   Not difficult, but see comment. Length   3 acts, about 2½ hours. Music   This bizarre opera is especially worth performing for the high quality of Offenbach's music. Highlights: the finales of course; the first contains a musical fit of sneezing and a chorus of turnips and cabbages, the second a magnificent number for ants and other insects, in the third a revolution is musically represented. Then there is the dreamy aria of Rosée du Soir, the famous Valse des Rayons, a solemn Pompeii quartet and a hilarious number about railway travel. The revolution chorus has the power of a real hit. Story   It is clear that the main character, the dissolute monarch Fridolin, stands for emperor Napoleon III. He is deposed (librettist Sardou had a prophetic mind) and succeeded by a carrot-become-human and its plebeian followers of carrots and beet-roots; by these the radicals are meant (radix = root). Guided by his good genius the exiled prince travels through space and time, visits Pompeii before it was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, and learns from the ants the meaning of hard work. Meanwhile the repulsive Carrot's regime has proved a hundred times worse than his predecessor's. After another revolution the prince regains his throne and Carrot and his bunch of vegetables are swallowed by the earth. Costumes   Women: town's women, girl-friends of students, ladies at court etc. Men: citizens, courtiers, soldiers, students etc. Soloists, chorus and extras: Roman costume (Pompeii), turnips, carrots and other vegetables, insects etc. Comment   The work is extravagant in many ways: eleven settings, dozens of roles, large orchestra, elaborate costumes. It is only suitable for large groups, perhaps for special festive occasions. A ballet and/or many figurants are recommended. But a bit of extra work and organisation will result in a very attractive political-satirical production.