Le trompeur trompé
opera
Le trompeur trompé (The Trickster Tricked) is a one-act opéra comique by Pierre Gaveaux, to a libretto by François Bernard-Valville. It premiered at the Théâtre Feydeau on 2 August 1800 (The first-edition libretto gives the date as 14 Thermidor an VIII, using the French Republican Calendar created during the French Revolution).
Roles
Synopsis
The play opens in the study of Jocard, a prosecuting attorney. Duval, his clerk, is working at his desk, musing over the circumstances that brought him to this role: He is really a midshipman, but has taken on the role of clerk due to his love for Agathe, Jocard's pupil. ("D'un mensonge très-innocent") Jocard's wife has recently died, and Jocard is now taking an interest in Agathe himself. She cannot be forced to marry him, but should Jocard find out about Duval's scheme, trouble would arise. Agathe thinks she should leave, but she and Duval promise to be faithful to each other. ("Il faut, il faut, que je vous quitte")
Jocard is heard approaching as they finish their farewells, and Agathe fails to escape in time. He asks why she was there, she tells him she was looking for him – which gives Jocard quite the wrong idea. Quickly refocusing, she says she came to tell him about some business with a proprietor of a hotel.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Le trompeur trompé” is opera. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through trompeur, trompé and opera, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “opera” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 12, 2022. The linked authority identifier is Q6508144. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1800.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Le trompeur trompé”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Le trompeur trompé primary sources, Le trompeur trompé archive and trompeur research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Le trompeur trompé”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Le trompeur trompé” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.