Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are Manon (1884) and Werther (1892). He also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music.
While still a schoolboy, Massenet was admitted to France's principal music college, the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied under Ambroise Thomas, whom he greatly admired. After winning the country's top musical prize, the Prix de Rome, in 1863, he composed prolifically in many genres, but quickly became best known for his operas. Between 1867 and his death forty-five years later he wrote more than forty stage works in a wide variety of styles, from opéra-comique to grand-scale depictions of classical myths, romantic comedies, lyric dramas, as well as oratorios, cantatas and ballets. Massenet had a good sense of the theatre and of what would succeed with the Parisian public. Despite some miscalculations, he produced a series of successes that made him the leading composer of opera in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Cendrillon (2017)
Cendrillon by J.Massenet, from Opera Freiburg, performed at Theater Freiburg, 2017. Directed by Barbara Mundel and Olga Motta, conductor Fabrice Bollon, starring Anja Jung,Kim-Lillian Strebel,Anat Czarny,Katharina Melnikova,Irina Jae Eun Park,Silvia Regazzo,Juan Orozco,Jongsoo Yang,Naoshi Sekiguc...
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Dmitri Hvorostovsky Festival presents Juan Diego Florez in Recital (2019)
Accompanied by Vincenzo Scalera, the magnificent tenor Juan Diego Flórez performs G. Rossini's "Addio ai Viennesi" and "Bolero", "Una furtiva lagrima" from G. Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, "Tombe degli avi miei / Fra poco a me ricovero" from G. Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, "O dolore" from G....
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Thais (2002)
Thais by Massenet, from Venezia Teatro La Fenice, performed at La Fenice, 2002. Directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi, conductor Marcello Viotti, starring William Joyner, Michele Pertusi, Eva Mei, Letizia Giuliani, Christophe Fel, Tiziana Carraro, Anna Smiech, Enrico Masiero, Christine Buffle, Elodie Méch...
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Chérubin (2006)
Chérubin by J. Massenet, from Teatro Lirico di Caligari, performed at Teatro Lirico, Caligari, 2006. Directed by Paul Curran, conductor Emmanuel Villaume, starring Patrizia Ciofi, Carmela Remigio, Michelle Breedt, Teresa di Bari, Alessandra Palomba, Giorgio Surian. Performed in French and Subtitl...
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Le roi de Lahore (2004)
Le roi de Lahore by J. Massenet, from Venezia Teatro La Fenice, performed at La Fenice, 2004. Directed by Arnaud Bernard, conductor Marcello Viotti, starring Ana María Sánchez, Vladimir Stoyanov, Riccardo Zanellato, Federico Sacchi, Giuseppe Gipali, Carlo Agostini, Cristina Sogmaister. Performed ...
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Manon (2014)
Manon by J.Massenet, from Opéra Royale de Wallonie, 2014. Directed by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera, conductor Patrick Davin, starring Sandra Pastrana, Annick Massis, Alessandro Liberatore, Pierre Doyen, Roger Joakim, Papuna Tchuradze, Patrick Delcour, Sabine Conzen and Alexise Yerna. Performed ...
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Werther (2010)
Werther by Jules Massenet, from Paris Bastille Opéra, France, 2010. Directed by Benoît Jacquot and Louise Narboni, conductor Michel Plasson. Starring Jonas Kaufmann (Werther); Sophie Koch (Charlotte); Ludovic Tézier Albert; Alain Vernhes (Le Bailli); Andreas Jaggi (Jean Schmidt); Christian Trégu...
