Jules Barbier
Encyclopedia
Paul Jules Barbier was a French poet, writer and opera
librettist who often wrote in collaboration with Michel Carré
. He was a noted Parisian bon vivant and man of letters .
His libretti for extant operas include:
(*) co-written with Michel Carré
.
He also wrote the libretto for La Guzla de l'Émir, a one-act comic opera by Georges Bizet
. This was never performed and probably destroyed.
He wrote the scenario for Léo Delibes
' ballet Sylvia
.
Gounod wrote incidental music to Barbier's play Jeanne d'Arc, and the libretto to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
's opera The Maid of Orleans
was partially based on it.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
librettist who often wrote in collaboration with Michel Carré
Michel Carré
Michel Carré was a prolific French librettist.He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing libretti. His libretto for Mirette was never performed in France but was later performed in English adaptation in...
. He was a noted Parisian bon vivant and man of letters .
His libretti for extant operas include:
- Charles GounodCharles GounodCharles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
:- La Colombe, FaustFaust (opera)Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
(*), Le Médecin malgré luiLe Médecin malgré luiLe Médecin malgré lui is a comedy by Molière.-Characters:*Sganarelle, a woodcutter*Martine, Sganarelle's wife*Géronte, a wealthy bourgeois*Lucinde, Géronte's daughter...
(*), Philémon et Baucis, PolyeuctePolyeuctePolyeucte martyr is a drama in five acts by French writer Pierre Corneille. It was finished in December 1642 and debuted in October 1643. It is based on the life of the martyr Saint Polyeuctus ....
, La Reine de Saba and Roméo et JulietteRoméo et JulietteRoméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
(*)
- La Colombe, Faust
- Victor MasséVictor MasséVictor Massé was a French composer.-Biography:...
:- Galathée
- Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
:- Le pardon de Ploërmel (later revised as DinorahDinorahDinorah, originally Le pardon de Ploërmel , is an 1859 French opéra comique in three acts with music by Giacomo Meyerbeer and a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré...
)
- Le pardon de Ploërmel (later revised as Dinorah
- Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
:- The Tales of Hoffmann
- Camille Saint-SaënsCamille Saint-SaënsCharles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
:- Le timbre d'argent
- Ambroise ThomasAmbroise ThomasCharles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...
:- HamletHamlet (opera)Hamlet is an opéra in five acts by the French composer Ambroise Thomas, with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier based on a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas, père and Paul Meurice of Shakespeare's play Hamlet.- Ophelia mania in Paris:...
(*), MignonMignonMignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
(*) and Francesca da Rimini.
- Hamlet
(*) co-written with Michel Carré
Michel Carré
Michel Carré was a prolific French librettist.He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing libretti. His libretto for Mirette was never performed in France but was later performed in English adaptation in...
.
He also wrote the libretto for La Guzla de l'Émir, a one-act comic opera by Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
. This was never performed and probably destroyed.
He wrote the scenario for Léo Delibes
Léo Delibes
Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
' ballet Sylvia
Sylvia (ballet)
Sylvia, originally Sylvia, ou La nymphe de Diane, is a full-length ballet in two or three acts, first choreographed by Louis Mérante to music by Léo Delibes in 1876. Sylvia is a typical classical ballet in many respects, yet it has many interesting features which make it unique...
.
Gounod wrote incidental music to Barbier's play Jeanne d'Arc, and the libretto to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's opera The Maid of Orleans
The Maid of Orleans
The Maid of Orleans is an opera in 4 acts, 6 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was composed during 1878–1879 to a Russian libretto by the composer, based on several sources: Friedrich Schiller’s The Maid of Orleans as translated by Vasily Zhukovsky; Jules Barbier’s Jeanne d’Arc ; Auguste...
was partially based on it.
External links
- Polyeucte : opéra in quatre actes / paroles de Jules Barbier et Michel Carré; partition, piano et chant réduite par H. Salomon, opera vocal scores with piano from the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection
- Reine de Saba. Inspirez-moi, race divine. Vocal score. English & French from the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection