Massenet operas
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Jules Massenet
b St. Etienne, May 12, 1842; d Paris, August 13, 1912
Jules Massenet was the most prominent and prolific composer of French opera in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with more than 30 operas to his credit. Born the twelfth child in a typical bourgeois provincial family, Jules first studied piano with his mother. His skills were sufficient to be accepted by the Paris Conservatoire, where in 1859, he won first prize for piano performance. He spent his early adulthood giving lessons, providing entertainment at local cafés and playing timpani in the orchestra pits of the major opera houses.
Massenet studied composition with Ambroise Thomas, a celebrated composer of an earlier generation whose most significant works were Mignon (1866) and Hamlet (1868). Jules won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1863 (with Hector Berlioz’ encouragement) and met Charles Garnier (a former Prix winner who would design the Paris and Monte Carlo Opéras) as well as a newly ordained Franz Liszt while residing at the students’ Italian abode, the Villa Medici. Liszt introduced h
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Jules Massenet
French composer (1842–1912)
"Massenet" redirects here. For other people with same surname, see Massenet (surname).
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (French pronunciation:[ʒylemilfʁedeʁikmasnɛ];[n 1] 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are Manon (1884) and Werther (1892). He also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music.
While still a schoolboy, Massenet was admitted to France's principal music college, the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied under Ambroise Thomas, whom he greatly admired. After winning the country's top musical prize, the Prix de Rome, in 1863, he composed prolifically in many genres, but quickly became best known for his operas. Between 1867 and his death forty-five years later he wrote more than forty stage works in a wide variety of styles, from opéra-comique to grand-scale depictions of classical myths, romantic comedies, lyric
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Grisélidis
Opera by Jules Massenet
| Grisélidis | |
|---|---|
Poster by Flameng for the premiere, depicting the Devil, Loÿs and Grisélidis | |
| Librettist | |
| Language | French |
| Based on | play after medieval tale of Griselda |
| Premiere | |
Grisélidis is an opera (described as a 'conte lyrique') in three acts and a prologue by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Armand Silvestre and Eugène Morand. It is based on the play by the same authors first performed at the Comédie-Française on 15 May 1891, which is drawn from the medieval tale of 'patient Grissil'.[1] The story is set in 14th century Provence, and concerns the shepherdess, Grisélidis, and a number of attempts by the Devil to lure her into infidelity. Grisélidis' loyalty to her husband, The Marquis, is strong, however, and the devil is vanquished.
Massenet began composition in 1894, completing it by the end of that year, but revising it in the autumn 1898 prior to discussing a potential production with Albert Carré.[2] It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 20 November 1901, with Lucie
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