Chabrier The Star

LÉtoile did much to establish Chabrier as a major force on the Parisian stage and his contemporary Henri Duparc praised him specifically for creating a French comic genre both funny and musical described as something of a French Die Meistersinger The fanciful story is set in an imaginary kingdom and all naturally ends well However despite the slight plot line LÉtoile is something of a pivotal work a unique example of French 19thcentury light opera orchestrated with great sophistication and flooded with gossamer wit