François-Adrien Boieldieu (1775 – 1834) was a French
composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French
Mozart". Born during the Ancien Régime in Rouen,
François-Adrien Boieldieu received his musical
education first from the choirmaster and then from the
organist of the local cathedral. During the Reign of
Terror, Rouen was one of the few towns to maintain a
significant musical life and in 1793 a series of
concerts was organised featuring the celebrated
violinist Pierre Rode and the tenor...(+)
François-Adrien Boieldieu (1775 – 1834) was a French
composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French
Mozart". Born during the Ancien Régime in Rouen,
François-Adrien Boieldieu received his musical
education first from the choirmaster and then from the
organist of the local cathedral. During the Reign of
Terror, Rouen was one of the few towns to maintain a
significant musical life and in 1793 a series of
concerts was organised featuring the celebrated
violinist Pierre Rode and the tenor Pierre-Jean Garat.
It was during this time that Boieldieu composed his
earliest works to texts written by his father (La fille
coupable in 1793, followed by Rosalie et Mirza in
1795). They brought him immediate success.
During the Revolutionary period, Boieldieu left for
Paris and wisely started work as a piano tuner. At this
time, the Opéra-Comique was the only theatre to offer
opportunities for the hybrid works of the same name,
close to classic opera, but containing spoken dialogue.
The most typical work of the genre was Luigi
Cherubini's Médée (1797). Opéra-comique,
traditionally performed at the Salle Favart, was also
staged at the Théâtre de Monsieur from 1789. In 1791,
the company set up home in a new theatre, the Théâtre
Feydeau, previously reserved for the troupe of the
opera buffa. Over the course of ten years, the Favart
and the Feydeau companies were rivals, the Favart
beefing up its repertoire of patriotic spectacles and
presenting the lighter works of Étienne Méhul, the
Feydeau offering the heroic dramas of Cherubini or
Jean-François Le Sueur. In 1797, Boieldieu offered the
Feydeau La famille suisse and L'heureuse nouvelle. In
1798, he presented the Favart with Zoraime et Zulmare,
which brought him extraordinary success.
The spiritual heir of André Grétry, Boieldieu focused
on melodies which avoided too much ornamentation, set
to light but intelligent orchestration. Hector Berlioz
described his music as possessing "a pleasing and
tasteful Parisian elegance". In 1800, he scored a
veritable triumph with Le calife de Bagdad. In 1804,
following the breakdown of his marriage to the dancer
Clotilde Mafleurai, he set off for Saint Petersburg to
take up the post of court composer to the tsar, where
he stayed until 1810. There he composed nine operas,
including Aline, reine de Golconde (1804) and Les
voitures versées (1808). On his return to France he
won back Parisian audiences with La jeune femme en
colère (1811), Jean de Paris (1812), Le nouveau
seigneur du village (1813) and a dozen other works.
In 1825 he produced his masterpiece, La dame blanche
(revived in the Salle Favart in 1997 and recorded by
the conductor Marc Minkowski). Unusual for the time, La
dame blanche was based on episodes from two novels by
Walter Scott. The libretto by Eugène Scribe is built
around the theme of the long lost child fortunately
recognized at a moment of peril. The style of the opera
influenced Lucia di Lammermoor, I puritani and La jolie
fille de Perth. La dame blanche was one of the first
attempts to introduce the fantastic into opera.
Although his reputation is largely based upon his
operas, Boieldieu also composed other works. Among them
was his Harp Concerto in C, written in 1800–1801 and
one of the masterpieces of the harp repertory. He
became professor of composition at the Paris
Conservatoire and in 1817 he succeeded Méhul as one of
the forty members of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He
received the Légion d'honneur in 1820. He gradually
lost the ability to speak, no doubt due to cancer of
the larynx. The bankruptcy of the Opéra-Comique and
the revolution of 1830 added to his woes. To save him
from poverty, Adolphe Thiers awarded him a state
pension of 6,000 francs. On September 25, 1834, he made
his last public appearance at the premiere of Adolphe
Adam's Le chalet. In this way, he stylishly passed on
the baton to his brilliant pupil.
He was a freemason, initiated at the Parisian lodge Les
Arts et l'Amitié ('Arts and Friendship') – belonging
to the Grand Orient of France, – as well as having
been a member of the lodge 'Palestine' (in St
Petersburg), and an honorary member of the lodge 'Les
Amis Réunis' ('Friends Re-united'), also in St
Petersburg. Boieldieu died in Varennes-Jarcy. On 13
November 1834 his heart was interred in Rouen, in a
tomb paid for by that city, while his body was interred
in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. He was survived by
an illegitimate son (Adrien) Louis (Victor)
(1815–83), mother Thérèse Regnault; he was also a
composer.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois-Adrien_Boi
eldieu).
Although originally written for Orchestra, I created
this arrangement of the Ouverture from 'Le Dame
Blanche' for Small Orchestra (Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, Bb
Clarinet, Bassoon, Bb Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone,
Tuba, Timpani, Violin, Viola, Cello & Bass).
SHEET MUSIC