Jean-François Bayard
Encyclopedia
Jean-François Alfred Bayard (17 March 1796, Charolles
, Saône-et-Loire
- 20 February 1853, Paris
) was a French playwright.
, with la Reine de seize ans (1828, in-8°). One of the most fertile-minded and skilful vaudeville
writers of his era, he made a close friendship with Eugène Scribe
, often collaborating with him on plays and marrying his niece.
Belonging to the school of Dancourt
and Picard
, he wrote with extreme ease, producing more than 200 plays for several theatres, sometimes alone, sometimes in collaboration. Many of his plays were remarked upon for their witty cheerfulness, and for not excluding sensitivity and everything else that was in vogue in the 19th century. He most often wrote vaudevilles, though he also had success with drama and even high comedy. In 1840, he collaborated with Georges Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges
on the libretto
for Gaetano Donizetti
's opéra comique
La fille du régiment
.
Despite his intensive writing schedule, Bayard devoted a large part of his time to the SACD, and was over many years one of the most active commissioners of new work from them. In this role, nearly all works on his life state that he competed with the directors of Paris's theatres.
In 1857, his family's fortunes having fallen on hard times, Bayard was forced to accept a job offer as director of the théâtre des Variétés
. Although he only held the job for a short time, Bayard signalled his tenure with happier results than many who held it longer. After having begun to rehabilitate public opinion towards this theatre, which had fallen from the first rank of the théâtres des boulevards
, he later felt it impossible to reconcile his writing and his tastes as an author with the demanding duties of a director and decided to leave the post. However, his last administrative act as director - choosing one of his most witty collaborators, his friend Dumanoir, as his successor - was also a happy one for the theatre. Dumanoir completed Bayard's work, allowing the théâtre des Variétés to regain its forgotten splendours.
Bayard also published articles in several literary journals, and poems and verse dramas in several anthologies. Louis Hachette published Bayard's Théâtre choisi, en 12 volumes, in-12, 1855-1858.
In 1857, Bayard was named a member of the Légion d'honneur
.
Charolles
Charolles is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-Geography:Charolles is located at the confluence of the Semence and the Arconce rivers, . W.N.W. of Mâcon.-History:...
, Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.-History:When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern...
- 20 February 1853, 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 French playwright.
Life
As a law student and a lawyer's clerk, Bayard wrote with passion for the theatre and, after several attempts, had a great success at the Gymnase theatreThéâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell
The Théâtre du Gymnase or Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell, is a theatre in Paris, at 38, boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle in the 10th arrondissement .-History:...
, with la Reine de seize ans (1828, in-8°). One of the most fertile-minded and skilful vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
writers of his era, he made a close friendship with Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
, often collaborating with him on plays and marrying his niece.
Belonging to the school of Dancourt
Florent Carton Dancourt
Florent Carton aka Dancourt , French dramatist and actor, was born at Fontainebleau. He belonged to a family of rank, and his parents entrusted his education to Pere de la Rue, a Jesuit, who made earnest efforts to induce him to join the order...
and Picard
Louis-Benoît Picard
Louis-Benoît Picard was a French playwrightAfter having begun to study law, he first became an actor before producing his first play, Le Badinage dangereux, in 1789....
, he wrote with extreme ease, producing more than 200 plays for several theatres, sometimes alone, sometimes in collaboration. Many of his plays were remarked upon for their witty cheerfulness, and for not excluding sensitivity and everything else that was in vogue in the 19th century. He most often wrote vaudevilles, though he also had success with drama and even high comedy. In 1840, he collaborated with Georges Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges
Georges Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges
Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges , French dramatist, was born and died in Paris. He was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, often working in collaboration with others....
on the libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
for Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's opéra comique
Opéra comique
Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
.
Despite his intensive writing schedule, Bayard devoted a large part of his time to the SACD, and was over many years one of the most active commissioners of new work from them. In this role, nearly all works on his life state that he competed with the directors of Paris's theatres.
In 1857, his family's fortunes having fallen on hard times, Bayard was forced to accept a job offer as director of the théâtre des Variétés
Théâtre des Variétés
The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1975.-History:...
. Although he only held the job for a short time, Bayard signalled his tenure with happier results than many who held it longer. After having begun to rehabilitate public opinion towards this theatre, which had fallen from the first rank of the théâtres des boulevards
Boulevard theatre
Boulevard theatre is a theatrical aesthetic which emerged from the boulevards of Paris's old city.-Origin:Starting from the second half of the 18th century, popular and bourgeois theatre alike took up residence on the boulevard du Temple, then nicknamed Boulevard of Crime due to the many...
, he later felt it impossible to reconcile his writing and his tastes as an author with the demanding duties of a director and decided to leave the post. However, his last administrative act as director - choosing one of his most witty collaborators, his friend Dumanoir, as his successor - was also a happy one for the theatre. Dumanoir completed Bayard's work, allowing the théâtre des Variétés to regain its forgotten splendours.
Bayard also published articles in several literary journals, and poems and verse dramas in several anthologies. Louis Hachette published Bayard's Théâtre choisi, en 12 volumes, in-12, 1855-1858.
In 1857, Bayard was named a member of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
Selected works
- La Belle-mère ;
- Christine ou la Reine de seize ans ;
- Les Fées de Paris ;
- Marie Mignot ;
- Les Enfants de troupe ;
- Les Premières armes de Richelieu ;
- La Manie des places ;
- La Fille de l’avare ;
- Mathilde ou la jalousie ;
- Le Gamin de Paris ;
- La Foire aux places, comédie-vaudeville in one act ;.
- Roman à vendre ;
- Un ménage parisien ;
- Un château de cartes, verse comedies ;
- Le Mari à la campagne, his main work.
Source
- Gustave Vapereau, Dictionnaire universel des littératures, Paris, Hachette, 1876, p. 687.