Nicolas Isouard
Encyclopedia
Zebbug, Malta
Ħaż-Żebbuġ or Città Rohan is one of the oldest towns in Malta. Its population is 12,892 as of 2010 making it the 12th largest town in Malta.-History and origins:...
– d. March 23, 1818, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) was a Maltese composer.
Isouard studied in Valletta
Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...
with Francesco Azopardi
Francesco Azopardi
Francesco Azopardi was a Maltese composer and music theorist.-Life and career:Azopardi received his musical training in Malta and during his stay from 1763 to 1774 in Naples at the Conservatory of San Onofrio under Carlo Cotumacci and Joseph Doll. He worked at St...
, in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
with Giuseppe Amendola, and in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
with Nicola Sala
Nicola Sala
Nicola Sala was an Italian composer and music theorist born in Tocco Caudio and died in Naples. He was chapel-master and professor at Naples, having devoted himself to the collection of the finest models of printed music...
and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi
Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi
Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi was an Italian opera composer.Guglielmi was born in Massa. He received his first musical education from his father, and afterwards studied under Francesco Durante at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto at Naples...
. From 1795 he was organist at St. John de Gerusalemme in Valletta
Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...
and conductor at the church of the Order of Saint John, San Giovanni di Malta.
He moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he worked as a free composer and befriended composer Rodolphe Kreutzer
Rodolphe Kreutzer
Rodolphe Kreutzer was a German violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas.-Biography:...
. The pair worked together on several operas, including Le petit page ou La prison d'état (1800) and Flaminius à Corinthe (1801). Isouard adopted the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Nicolò (or Nicolò de Malte) and found rapid success in the field of opera comique
Opera Comique
The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
with Michel-Ange (1802) and L'intrigue aux fenêtres (1805). He composed regularly for the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
, writing some thirty works for them.
He composed mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
es, motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s, cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s, romances, and duos, along with over 40 opera
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...
s.
Isouard had two daughters, Sophie-Nicole (1809–?), a composer of romances, and Annette-Julie (1814–1876), and pianist and composer. His brother Joseph (1794–1863) had a career as a singer and opera director before being named inspector of historic monuments in Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
. Nicolas Isouard was buried in Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. A bust of the composer was placed on one of the facades of both the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique and the Palais Garnier
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
, and one of the main squares in Paris was given his name.
Works
- L'avviso a Maritati, Opera, 1794
- Artaserse, re di Persia, Opera seria, 1794
- Il barbiere di Siviglia, Opera buffa after Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, 1796
- Rinaldo d'Asti, Dramma giocoso, 1796
- L'improvvisata in campagna, Opera buffa, 1797
- I due avari, Commedia per musica, 1797
- Il bottaio, Opera comique, 1798
- Il barone d'Alba chiara, Commedia per musica, 1798
- Ginevra di Scozia, Dramma serio eroico, 1798
- Le petit page ou La prison d'état, Opera, 1800
- Flaminius à Corinthe, Opera, 1801
- La statue ou La femme avare, Opera comique, 1802
- Michel-Ange, Opera, 1802
- Les confidences, Opera, 1803
- Le baiser et la quittance ou Une aventure de garnison, Opera comique, 1803
- Le médecin turc, Opéra bouffon, 1803
- L'intrigue aux fenêtres, Opera, 1805
- La ruse inutile ou Les rivaux par convention, Opera, 1805
- Léonce ou Le fils adoptif, Opera, 1805
- La prise de Passaw, Opera comique, 1806
- Le déjeuner de garçons, Comédie mêlée de musique, 1806
- Idala ou La sultane, Opera comique, 1806
- Les rendez-vous bourgeoisLes rendez-vous bourgeoisLes rendez-vous bourgeois is an opéra bouffon in one act by Nicolas Isouard to a French libretto by François Benoît Hoffmann, in the form of an opéra comique with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers...
, Opéra bouffon, 1807 - Les créanciers ou Le remède à la goutte, Opera comique, 1807
- Un jour à Paris ou La leçon singulière, Opera comique, 1808
- Cimarosa, Opera comique, 1808
- Zélomir ou L'intrigue au sérail, Opera comique, 1809
- CendrillonCendrillon (Isouard)Cendrillon is a French opera in three acts by the Maltese-born composer Nicolas Isouard. It takes the form of an opéra comique with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers, although its authors designated it an opéra série. The libretto, by Charles Guillaume Etienne, is based on Charles...
, Opéra féerie after Charles PerraultCharles PerraultCharles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
, 1810 - La victime des arts ou La fête de famille, Opera comique, 1811
- La fête de village ou L'heureux militaire, Opera comique, 1811
- Le billet de loterie, Opera comique, 1811
- Le magicien sans magie, Opera comique, 1811
- Lulli et Quinault ou Le déjeuner impossible, Opera comique, 1812
- Le prince de Catane, Opera, 1813
- Le français à Venise, Opera comique, 1813
- Bayard à Mézières ou Le siège de Mézières, Opera comique, 1814
- Joconde ou Les coureurs d'aventures, Opera comique, 1814
- Jeannot et Colin, Opera comique, 1814
- Les deux maris, Opera comique, 1816
- L'une pour l'autre ou L'enlèvement, Opera comique, 1816
- Aladin ou La lampe merveilleuse, Opéra féerie, 1822
- Une nuit de Gustave Wasa, Opera, 1825