Les deux aveugles

• Patachon ( in the original) - caraway Berger ( in the German version ) ( Tenor)
• Giraffier ( in the original) - Jerzabek ( in the German version ) ( Tenor)
• Several passers-by ( silent roles )

The two blind men (French: Les deux aveugles ) is a comic opera ( opera buffa ) in an act of Jules Moinaux. The music was composed by Jacques Offenbach. The premiere took place on July 5, 1855 in Offenbach's Théâtre des Bouffes in Paris. The operetta takes less than half an hour.

Orchestra

Original version: Two flutes, one oboe, two clarinets, one bassoon, two horns, two cornets, a trombone and strings

The later played in Vienna It calls for two oboes, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets in the wind instruments.

Action

The operetta plays on a bridge in Paris around 1855. Both protagonists were formerly supposed deaf, today they play two blind men, because in truth hear and see Patachon and Giraffier excellent. You pretend to be poor musicians in order to be successful in their begging. In this case, none begrudge the other a charity, even worse, from envy they insult each other on bitterest.

Importance

The two blind men was the first work ever to Offenbach for his own theater Bouffes wrote. Hellmuth Steger and Karl Howe evaluate it in their operetta leader as a milestone in the history of the then young genre of music operetta.