roles don quichotte , haute-contre jean-antoine bérard sancho pança , taille ( baritenor ) louis-antoine cuvilliers altisidore , soprano marie fel peasant girl , soprano mlle bourbonnois woman , soprano duke , bass merlin , basse-taille ( bass-baritone ) person montésinos , basse-taille albert japanese man , basse-taille person japanese woman , soprano marie fel enchanted lovers , sopranos mlles clairon and gondré ballerinas , marie anne de cupis de camargo and mimi dallemand male dancers , david dumoulin , louis dupré and jean-barthélemy lany synopsis the opera is based upon an episode in the cervantes novel don quixote , in which a duke and duchess amuse themselves by creating an elaborate ruse to fool the title character .