Biography
Jules Massenet (1842-1912), born in Montaud near Saint-Étienne, was one of the most successful French opera composers of the late nineteenth century and a defining voice of the post-Wagnerian French lyric tradition. Massenet studied at the Paris Conservatoire, won the Prix de Rome in 1863, and after 1878 taught composition at the Conservatoire for twenty years. His most enduring operas are Manon (1884), Werther (1892), Thaïs (1894), and Don Quichotte (1910). Massenet's gift was for supple melody, elegant orchestration, and sensitive treatment of psychologically complex female roles. The Méditation from Thaïs, a solo violin interlude, is one of the most beloved pieces of the French late-Romantic repertoire. Massenet died in Paris in 1912, admired by contemporaries including Debussy and Ravel despite fading cultural fashions.
On Stagelog
Loading stats...