Massenet Festival
Encyclopedia
Massenet Festival is a biennale festival of music
by French composer, Jules Massenet
held at Saint-Étienne
, France
, close to the area where the composer was born.
Following the initial success of staging Massenet's Amadis in 1988 during an "unofficial" festival of his work, the organizers decided to regularly fund these festivals starting in 1990. Thus initial founders of the Massenet Festival were Jean-Louis Pichon
(director and principal producer) and Patrick Fournillier
(musical director and conductor). So far only those earlier festival performances (before 1995) were released on audio CD
(under the label Koch-Schwann) and are available to the public.
The First Massenet Festival took place in November 1990 and presented the opera Cléopâtre
and the oratorio La Vierge
.
was staged (with the participation of Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni
in the title role), while the Third Massenet Festival in 1994 brought revivals of such operas as Grisélidis
, Panurge
, and Le Cid
.
Because the Esplanade Opera house in Saint-Étienne burned down in October 1998, the originally planned next festival was delayed for more than half a year.
Over succssive years, the following operas have been presented:
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
by French composer, Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
held at Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, close to the area where the composer was born.
Following the initial success of staging Massenet's Amadis in 1988 during an "unofficial" festival of his work, the organizers decided to regularly fund these festivals starting in 1990. Thus initial founders of the Massenet Festival were Jean-Louis Pichon
Jean-Louis Pichon
Jean-Louis Pichon is a French stage director, opera manager and author.After studying Classics, Jean-Louis Pichon carried out research into theatre. In 1969, he attended a master's thesis devoted to Racine's work...
(director and principal producer) and Patrick Fournillier
Patrick Fournillier
Patrick Fournillier - the French conductor, was born December 26, 1954, in Neuilly-sur-Seine.He studied in Paris with Louis Fourestier and Pierre Dervaux, then in Strasbourg Conservatoire and Salzburg Mozarteum. Between 1983 and 1986 he was assistant conductor in l'Orchestre National de Lille, then...
(musical director and conductor). So far only those earlier festival performances (before 1995) were released on audio CD
Red Book (audio CD standard)
Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc...
(under the label Koch-Schwann) and are available to the public.
The First Massenet Festival took place in November 1990 and presented the opera Cléopâtre
Cléopâtre
Cléopâtre is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Payen. It was first performed in at the Opéra Monte-Carlo on February 23, 1914, nearly two years after Massenet's death....
and the oratorio La Vierge
La Vierge
La Vierge is an oratorio in four scenes by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Charles Grandmougin. It was first performed at the Opéra in Paris on May 22, 1880....
.
Successive Festival highlights
Two years later, in 1992, EsclarmondeEsclarmonde
Esclarmonde is an opéra in four acts and eight tableaux, with prologue and epilogue, by Jules Massenet, to a French libretto by Alfred Blau and Louis Ferdinand de Gramont....
was staged (with the participation of Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni
Denia Mazzola
Denia Mazzola - Gavazzeni, is an operatic soprano, born February 4, 1953 in Bergamo, Italy.- Life :She studied at the Conservatory of Verona under Rina Malatrasi, Rodolfo Celletti and Leyla Gencer...
in the title role), while the Third Massenet Festival in 1994 brought revivals of such operas as Grisélidis
Grisélidis
Grisélidis is an opera 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'...
, Panurge
Panurge (opera)
Panurge is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Georges Spitzmuller and Maurice Boukay, after Pantagruel by Rabelais...
, and Le Cid
Le Cid (opera)
Le Cid is an opera in four acts and ten tableaux by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet, Édouard Blau and Adolphe d'Ennery. It is based on the play of the same name by Pierre Corneille....
.
Because the Esplanade Opera house in Saint-Étienne burned down in October 1998, the originally planned next festival was delayed for more than half a year.
Over succssive years, the following operas have been presented:
- ThaïsThaïs (opera)Thaïs is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet based on the novel Thaïs by Anatole France. It was first performed at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on 16 March 1894, starring the American soprano Sybil Sanderson, for whom Massenet had written the title role...
(1996). - Le roi de LahoreLe roi de LahoreLe roi de Lahore is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet. It was first performed at the Palais Garnier in Paris on 27 April 1877....
(1999). - RomaRoma (opera)Roma is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Cain based on the play Rome vaincue by Alexandre Parodi. It was first performed at the Opéra in Monte Carlo on February 17, 1912....
(November 2001). - SaphoSapho (opera)Sapho is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Cain and Arthur Bernède, based on the novel of the same name by Alphonse Daudet. It was first performed at the Opéra Comique in Paris on November 27, 1897 with Emma Calvé as Fanny Legrand.It is a charming and effective...
(2003). - Le jongleur de Notre-DameLe jongleur de Notre-DameLe jongleur de Notre-Dame is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Maurice Léna. It was first performed in Monte Carlo on 18 February 1902.-History:...
(2005). - ArianeAriane (Massenet)Ariane is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Catulle Mendès after Greek mythology . It was first performed at the Palais Garnier in Paris on October 31, 1906, with Lucienne Bréval in the title role.-History:...
(2007). - ManonManonManon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
(2009).