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Henri Meilhac

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Henri Meilhac
Born23 February 1830
1st arrondissement of Paris, France
Died6 June 1897(1897-06-06) (aged 67)
Paris
OccupationPlaywright

Henri Meilhac (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʁi mɛjak]; 23 February 1830 – 6 July 1897) was a prolific French playwright and opera librettist, known for his collaborations with Ludovic Halévy on comic operas with music by Jacques Offenbach. He also wrote occasionally for serious works including Georges Bizet's Carmen (with Halévy) and Jules Massenet's Manon.

Born in Paris, Meilhac began writing for a humorous magazine in 1852, and four years later he began a career as a playwright. In 1860 he collaborated for the first time with Halévy, an old schoolfriend, on a one-act comedy, presented at the Théâtre des Variétés. Over the next twenty-one years the two co-wrote fifty more stage works.

After Halévy retired in 1882 Meilhac continued to write, sometimes as sole author and sometimes with collaborators. His tally of stage works is more than a hundred, and includes short and full-length comic plays and the libretti of twenty-five operettas. He and Halévy wrote the libretti for Offenbach's La belle Hélène (1864), La vie parisienne (1866), La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867) and La Périchole (1868). In addition Meilhac provided libretti for operettas by Charles Lecocq, Hervé, Gaston Serpette and Robert Planquette.


Life and career

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Early years

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Meilhac was born in what is now the first arrondissement of Paris, on 23 February 1830, the son of François Meilhac, a painter, and his wife, Antoinette née Chomé.[1] He was educated at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, where he did not distinguish himself as a scholar but found a lifelong friend in a fellow student, Ludovic Halévy.[2]

After leaving school he worked as a commercial clerk in bookselling, and then began to write for a living, contributing articles and drawings to the Journal pour rire from 1852 to 1855. He made his theatrical debut in 1856, with a one-act comédie en vaudevilles, La Sarabande du Cardinal, with a cast of five, and music by Sylvain Mangeant, given at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in May.[3] He wrote a further seven comedies between then and 1860, when he began to work with co-authors, as was frequently done in the French theatre of the time. His first collaborator was Germain Delavigne but in 1861 he teamed up with his friend Halévy to write a one-act comedy, Le Menuet de Danaé, presented at the Théâtre des Variétés on 20 April 1861. Between then and 1881 the two collaborated on a further fifty stage works, in between working alone or with other co-authors.[4] A biographer of Meilhac has written:

Both writers recorded that their cooperation was easy and friendly; Meilhac displayed the freer imagination and the more unbridled comic verve in the creation of shameless parody and uproarious satire, while Halévy developed ideas within a craftsmanlike dramatic framework.[5]

The critic Henry Fouquier wrote in 1897, "It is agreed that Meilhac was the bold inventor and the audaciously fanciful, while M. Halévy remained the skilful, wise, and level-headed man of the theatre, and the writer of moderation and taste.[6]

Librettist

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Newspaper caricature of characters in classical costume
Sketch of first performance of La belle Hélène

Meilhac's first libretto for an opéra comique was for Louis Deffès' Les Bourguignonnes, given at the Opéra-Comique in July 1861; with Halévy, he had a huge hit with his next:Offenbach's La belle Hélène (1864). Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians says of Halévy and Meilhac:

Their achievement lay to a considerable extent in exploiting to the full the existing forms of opéra comique with its combination of music and speech, its transparently artificial plot and its topicality, which often found expression in irreverent parody. ... Situations are contrived for concerted numbers, especially at the ends of acts, and solos and ensembles are both energetic and varied. The versification of the lyrics is deft, rhyme and vocabulary are amusing, and sentiments are expressed clearly. The spoken dialogues are crisp and laconic, sometimes colloquial and never pompous except in jest. with these means Halévy and Meilhac mocked everything they observed around them in a Second Empire society that took itself too seriously.[7]

The three followed La belle Hélène with two more great successes: La vie parisienne (1866) and La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867).[8] Le château à Toto (1868) did less well at the box-office,[9] but La Périchole (1868) was another success. It was based on Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement, a comedy by Prosper Mérimée, who was to feature again in Meilhac and Halévy's work four years later.[10] Their last two collaborations with Offenbach in the 1860s – La diva (1869) and Les brigands (1869) – were less successful.[10] The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 and the downfall of the Second Empire caused a strong reaction against Offenbach from the public, who identified him with the fallen regime. He left the country for a time, taking refuge in London and Vienna.[11]

Other composers for whom Meilhac wrote or co-wrote comic opera libretti were Jules Cohen, Auguste Durand, Clémence de Grandval, Hervé, Charles Lecocq, Gaston Serpette and Robert Planquette.[3]

Carmen and later

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theatre poster with illustration of young white woman dancing
Poster for the première of Carmen

Although the two librettists were known for their comedies, in 1872 they undertook what was, for them, an unusual assignment. Halévy's cousin Geneviève (daughter of Fromental) was married to Bizet, whom the directors of the Opéra-Comique invited to write an opera in collaboration with Halévy and Meilhac. The librettists were enthusiastic about the composer's preference for a plot based on Prosper Mérimée's story Carmen;[12] they provided a libretto with the requisite tragic ending. Nonetheless, they regarded the piece as a side venture. Just before the premiere, Halévy wrote:

There are some very, very lovely and charming things in the score, and I dare hope for a happy evening for Bizet. His interests alone matter in this instance. The thing has little importance for Meilhac and me.[13]

The management of the Opéra-Comique was uneasy about presenting a tragedy, and Meilhac unsuccessfully urged Bizet to resist killing Carmen off at the end of the last act.[14] Their predictions of a failure proved accurate: the piece completed its scheduled run of forty-eight performances, but played to small audiences.[15] Grove comments on the librettists' efforts for Carmen: "perhaps the most famous product of the Halévy-Meilhac collaboration, but not a very typical one ... There is some justice in the complaint that the remarkable style of Mérimée’s original narrative is lost".[7]

This was the pair's only joint venture into tragedy. They wrote seven more libretti together, of which three were for Offenbach and four for Lecocq.[7] When Offenbach returned to Paris from his voluntary exile he collaborated with Halévy and Meilhac on revised versions of La vie parisienne and La Perichole; the three collaborators' final work together was an opéra bouffe, La boulangère a des écus.(1875). Thereafter Halévy and Meilhac provided libretti for four opéras comiques with music by Lecocq: Le petit duc (1878), La petite mademoiselle (1879), Janot (1881) and La rousotte (1881), in the last of which there was also music by Hervé and Marius Boullard.[7][3] Two of Meilhac's plays formed the basis of popular operettas: his 1861 Attaché d'ambassade (Embassy Attaché) was adapted for The Merry Widow and his and Halévy's 1872 comedy La reveillon (New Year's Eve) was the basis of Die Fledermaus.[16]

Last years

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After Halévy retired in 1882, Meilhac wrote two serious libretti for operas by Jules Massenet (Manon, 1884, with Philippe Gille) and Leo Delibes (Kassya, 1893, with Gille).[3] He continued to write comedies; his most frequent collaborators were Gille and Albert de Saint-Albin.[3]

In 1888, Meilhac was elected to the Académie française, joining Halévy, who was elected in 1881. He died in Paris on 6 July 1897, aged sixty-seven.[7] After his death a London newspaper reported that at one time he had fourteen of his plays running simultaneously in Paris.[17] In Le Figaro Henry Fouquier wrote, "As it was said of Rossini that he was not a musician, but was 'Music', we can say of Meilhac that he was the Theatre itself ... the very expression of the disrespectful, witty and good-natured scepticism of the happy days of the Empire".[6]

Stage works

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Title Genre Acts Co-authors Composer Theatre Date
La sarabande du cardinal (The Cardinal's Sarabande) vaudeville 1 Palais-Royal 29 May 1856
Satania vaudeville 2 Palais-Royal 10 Oct 1856
Le copiste (The Copyist) comedy 1 Gymnase 3 Aug 1857
Péché caché (Hidden Sin) comedy 1 Palais-Royal 11 Jan 1858
L'autographe comedy 1 Gymnase 27 Nov 1858
Retour d'Italie (Return from Italy) comedy 1 Gymnase 14 Aug 1859
Le petit-fils de Mascarille (Mascarille's Grandson) comedy 5 Gymnase 8 Oct 1859
Ce qui plait aux hommes (What Men Like) comedy 1 Variétés 6 Oct 1860
Une heure avant l'ouverture (One Hour Before Opening) vaudeville 1 Germain Delavigne Vaudeville 31 Dec 1860
L'étincelle (The Spark) comedy 3 Vaudeville 31 Dec 1860
Le menuet de Danaé (Danaë's Minuet) comedy 1 Ludovic Halévy Variétés 20 Apr 1861
La vertu de Célimène (The Virtue of Célimène) comedy 5 Gymnase 1 May 1861
Attaché d'ambassade (Embassy Attaché) comedy 3 Vaudeville 12 Oct 1861
Le café du roi opéra-comique 1 Louis Deffès Lyrique 6 Nov 1861
Les moulins à vent (The Windmills) vaudeville 3 Halévy Variétés 22 Feb 1862
L'échéance (The Deadline) comedy 1 Delavigne Gymnase 15 Mar 1862
La clé de Métella (The Key to Métella) comedy 1 Halévy Vaudeville 24 Nov 1862
Les brebis de Panurge (Panurge's Sheep) comedy Halévy Vaudeville 24 Nov 1862
Le Brésilien (The Brazilian) vaudeville 1 Halévy Palais-Royal 9 May 1863
Le train de minuit (The Midnight Train) comedy 2 Halévy Gymnase 15 Jun 1863
Les Bourguignonnes (The Burgundian women) opéra-comique 1 Deffês Opéra-Comique 6 Jul 1863
Néméa ballet 3 Ludwig Minkus Opéra 14 Jul 1864
Les curieuses (The Curious) comedy 1 Delavigne Gymnase 17 Oct 1864
La belle Hélène opéra bouffe 3 Halévy Jacques Offenbach Variétés 17 Dec 64
Le photographe comedy 1 Halévy Palais-Royal 24 Dec 1864
Le singe de Nicolet (Nicolet's monkey) comedy 1 Halévy Variétés 29 Jan 1865
Fabienne comedy 3 Gymnase 1 Sep 1865
La méprise de Lambinet (Lambinet's Mistake) vaudeville 1 Halévy Variétés 3 Dec 1865
Barbe-bleue (Bluebeard) opéra bouffe 3 Halévy Offenbach Variétés 5 Feb 1866
José Maria opéra-comique Jules Cohen Opéra-Comique 6 Jul 1866
La vie parisienne (Parisian Life) opéra bouffe 4 Halévy Offenbach Palais-Royal 31 Oct 1866
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein opéra bouffe 3 Halévy Offenbach Variétés 12 Apr 1867
Tout pour les dames vaudeville 1 Halévy Variétés 8 Sept 1867
L'élixir de Cornélius opéra-comique 1 Delavigne Auguste Durand Fantaisies 3 Feb 1868
Le château à Toto opéra-bouffe 3 Halévy Offenbach Palais-Royal 6 May 1868
La pénitente opéra-comique 1 William Busnach Clémence de Grandval Opéra-Comique 13 May 1868
Fanny Lear comedy 5 Halévy Gymnase 13 Aug 1868
La Périchole opéra bouffe 3 Halévy Offenbach Variétés 6 Oct 1868
Suzanne et les deux vieillards (Suzanne and the Two Old Men) comedy 1 Gymnase 10 Oct 1868
Le bouquet comedy 1 Halévy Palais-Royal 23 Oct 1868
Vert-vert opéra-comique 3 Charles Nuitter Offenbach Opéra-Comique 10 Mar 1869
Diva opéra-bouffe 3 Halévy Offenbach Bouffes 22 Mar 1869
Un contrat comedy 2 Vaudeville 22 Apr 1869
Homme à la clé (Man With the Key) vaudeville 1 Halévy Variétés 11 Aug 1869
Froufrou comedy 5 Halévy Gymnase 30 Oct 1869
Les brigands opéra bouffe 3 Halévy Offenbach Variétés 10 Dec 1869
Tricoche et Cacolet vaudeville 5 Halévy Palais-Royal 6 Dec 1871
Madame attend Monsieur (Madame is waiting for Monsieur) comedy 1 Halévy Variétés 8 Feb 1872
Nany comedy 4 Émile de Najac Comédie-Française 12 Apr 1872
Le réveillon (New Year's Eve) comedy 3 Halévy Palais-Royal 10 Sept 1872
Les sonnettes (The Bells) comedy 1 Halévy Variétés 15 Nov 1872
Le roi Candaule (King Candaule) vaudeville 1 Halévy Palais-Royal 9 Apr 1873
L'été de la Saint-Martin (Indian Summer) comedy 1 Halévy Comédie-Française Jul 1873
Toto chez Tata comedy 1 Halévy Variétés 25 Aug 1873
L'opéra aux Italiens (Opera for the Italians) comedy 1 Halévy and Busnach Variétés 12 Feb 1874
La petite marquise comedy 3 Halévy Variétés 13 Feb 1874
La mi-carême vaudeville 1 Halévy Palais-Royal 2 Apr 1874
L'ingénue comedy 1 Halévy Variétés 24 Sep 1874
La veuve (The Widow) comedy 3 Halévy Gymnase 5 Nov 1874
La boule comedy 4 Halévy Palais-Royal 24 Oct 1874
Carmen opéra-comique 4 Halévy (after Mérimée) Georges Bizet Opéra-Comique 3 Mar 1875
Le passage de Vénus (The Transit of Venus) comedy 1 Halévy Variétés 4 May 1875
La boulangère a des écus (The Baker has Money) opéra bouffe 3 Halévy Offenbach Variétés 19 Oct 1875
La Créole opéra comique 3 Albert Millaud Offenbach Bouffes 3 Nov 1875
Loulou comedy 1 Halévy Pal-Royal 31 Mar 1876
Le prince comedy 4 Halévy Pal-Royal 25 Nov 1876
La cigale (The Cricket) comedy 3 Halévy Variétés 6 Oct 1877
Le fandango ballet 1 Halévy and Louis Mérante Gaston Salvayre Opéra 26 Nov 1877
Le je ne sais quoi vaudeville 1 Halévy Renaissance 21 Jan 1878
Le petit-duc opéra-comique 3 Halévy Charles Lecocq Renaissance 25 Jan 1878
La cigarette comedy 1 Charles Narrey Gymnase 20 Apr 1878
Samuel Brohl comedy 5 Victor Cherbuliez Odéon 31 Jan 1879
Le mari de la débutante (The Debutante's Husband) comedy 4 Halévy Palais-Royal 5 Feb 1879
Le petit hôtel comedy 1 Halévy Comédie-Française 21 Feb 1879
La petite mademoiselle opéra-comique 3 Halévy Lecocq Renaissance 12 Apr 1879
Lolotte comedy 1 Halévy Vaudeville 4 Oct 1879
La petite mère comedy 3 Halévy Variétés 6 Mar 1880
Nina la tueuse (Nina the Killer) comedy 1 Jacques Redelsperger Gymnase 2 Oct 1880
Janot opéra-comique 3 Halévy Lecocq Renaissance 22 Jan 1881
La roussotte (The Redhead) vaudeville-opérette 3 Halévy and Millaud Hervé, Lecocq, Marius Boullard Variétés 26 Jan 1881
Phryné comedy 3 Gymnase 14 Feb 1881
Le mari à Babette (Babette's Husband) comedy 3 Philippe Gille Palais-Royal 31 Dec 1881
Madame le diable féerie-op 4 Arnold Mortier Gaston Serpette Renaissance 5 Apr 1882
Mam'zelle Nitouche comedy with music 3 Millaud Hervé Variétés 26 Jan 1883
Le nouveau régime comedy 1 Jules Prével Gymnase 11 May 1883
Ma camarade comedy 5 Gille Palais-Royal 9 Oct 1883
Manon opéra-comique 3 Gille Jules Massenet Opéra-Comique 19 Jan 1884
La cosaque (The Cossack) comedy 3 Millaud Hervé Variétés 1 Feb 1884
La duchesse Martin comedy 1 Comédie-Française 16 May 1884
Rip (Rip Van Winkle) opéra-comique 3 Gille (after H. B. Farnie) Robert Planquette Folies-Dramatiques 11 Nov 1884
La bonne (The Right One) vaudeville 1 Gille Folies-Dramatiques 21 Nov 1884
La ronde du commissaire comedy 4 Gille Gymnase 27 Nov 1884
Les demoiselles Clochari comedy 3 Variétés 30 Jan 1886
Gotte comedy 4 Palais-Royal 2 Dec 1886
Décoré comedy 3 Variétés 27 Jan 1888
Pepa comedy 3 Louis Ganderax Comédie-Française 31 Oct 1888
Margot comedy 3 Comédie-Française 18 Jan 1890
Ma cousine comedy 3 Variétés 27 Oct 1890
Monsieur l'abbé comedy 5 Albert de Saint-Albin Palais-Royal 18 Nov 1891
Brevet supérieur (Higher Certificate) comedy 3 Variétés 13 Apr 1892
Kassya opéra-comique 4 Gille Léo Delibes Opéra-Comique 24 Mar 1893
Leurs gigolettes (Their Working Girls) comedy 4 Saint-Albin Palais-Royal 9 Nov 1893
Villégiature (Holiday Resort) comedy 1 Saint-Albin Vaudeville 15 Jan 1894
Miguel comedy 1 Trouville 17 Aug 1894
Panurge opéra-comique 3 Saint-Albin Planquette Gaîté 22 Nov 1895
Grosse fortune comedy 4 Comédie-Française 15 Feb 1896
Source: Nos auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Henri Meilhac", Ancestry.com (subscription required)
  2. ^ Hansen, p. 54
  3. ^ a b c d e f Martin, pp. 387–391
  4. ^ Martin, pp. 271–274 and 387–391
  5. ^ Smith, Christopher. "Meilhac, Henri", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2002. (subscription required)
  6. ^ a b Fouquier, Henry. Obituary, Le Figaro, 7 July 1897, p. 1
  7. ^ a b c d e Smith, Christopher. "Halévy, Ludovic", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2002 (subscription required)
  8. ^ Faris, pp. 141–142; and 147
  9. ^ Faris, p. 158
  10. ^ a b Faris, p. 160
  11. ^ Gammond, p. 102
  12. ^ McClary, p. 19
  13. ^ "Quoted" in McClary, p. 18
  14. ^ McClary, p. 23
  15. ^ McClary p. 28
  16. ^ Harewood, pp. 410 and 748
  17. ^ "The Prolific Meilhac", The Sketch, 14 July 1897, p. 2

Sources

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  • Faris, Alexander (1980). Jacques Offenbach. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-11147-3.
  • Gammond, Peter (1980). Offenbach. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-0257-2.
  • Harewood, Earl of (2000). The New Kobbé's Opera Book. London: Ebury. ISBN 978-0-09-181410-6.
  • Hansen, Eric (1987). Ludovic Halévy: A Study of Frivolity and Fatalism in Nineteenth-century France. Lanham: University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-81-915887-1.
  • McClary, Susan (2002). Georges Bizet: Carmen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-52-139301-0.
  • Martin, Jules (1897). Nos auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques (in French). Paris: Flammarion. OCLC 9145330.
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