Eugène Scribe

Augustin Eugène Scribe ( born December 24, 1791 in Paris, † February 20, 1861 ) was a French dramatist and librettist.

Life and work

Scribe came from a merchant family, and began to study at the Sorbonne Law after completing his schooling. During his studies, he began his literary work, and after the first small successes he broke from this study without a degree. His debut was in 1811 with his play Le Scribe dervis, which he co-authored with Germain Delavigne while Une nuit de la garde with he scored 1815 national his artistic breakthrough.

His plays, mostly vaudeville emerged in an almost factory-like division of labor. Scribe provided the ideas and distributed a structured table of contents to its numerous employees, each of whom had to write a particular scene, the dialogues, the couplets, the jokes, etc. The main authors who wrote for Scribe, were Jean François Alfred Bayard, Roger de Beauvoir, Joseph Xavier Boniface (pseudonym "XB Saintine " ), Nicolas Brazier, Pierre François Carmouche, Jean Henri Dupin, Philippe François Dumanoir (called " Pinel " ), Anne -Honoré- Joseph Duveyrier (pseudonym " Mélesville ") Charles Duveyrier ( father of the Sahara explorer Henri Duveyrier ), Germain Delavigne, Ernest Legouvé, Auguste Michel Masson, Edouard Joseph Mazères, Charles Gaspard Poirson (pseudonym " Delestre - Poirson " ), Louis Emile Vander Burch and Antoine François Varner.

His vaudeville formed the backbone of the Scribe in 1820 co-founded the Théâtre du Gymnase - dramatique. Until about 1830 Scribe experienced there almost always triumphs. During its heyday it was able to offer the amazed audience almost regularly every four weeks a first. Most of Scribe's comedies had their premiere in Paris at the Théâtre Français. Gained world fame Scribe as librettist many well-known opera composers, especially Giacomo Meyerbeer ( Les Huguenots, L' africaine ), but also Adolphe Adam, Daniel -François- Esprit Auber (La muette de Portici), Vincenzo Bellini, François -Adrien Boïeldieu, Jacques Fromental Halévy, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, among others often came the librettos of his staff who wrote the complete text by Scribe's specifications. So comes the libretto for Verdi's opera, first performed in 1855 The Sicilian Vespers by Charles Duveyrier, even if Scribes name figured in the first place.

With effect from November 27, 1834 Scribe was elected to the Académie française.

As 1837 Eduard Avenarius ( 1809-1885 ) took over the management of a Paris branch of the Brockhaus publishing house, he was asked by his brother, the composer Richard Wagner, to acquaint him with Eugène Scribe. Since Scribe was not interested in any cooperation with Wagner, it was also in the following year at no meetings, as Wagner of Riga from the head of the Paris Opera, Edouard Monnaie, tried to inspire his plans.

At the age of 69 years the writer Eugène Scribe died on 20 February 1861 in Paris at the effects of a stroke during a tour.

Overall Scribes includes more then 400 titles, which, however, from today's perspective almost exclusively the current fashion were adjusted and were soon taken out of the program. To date, in addition to the operas actually only 1840 resulting comedy can hold the glass of water in the repertoire of the theater. But only by the scope of his work over 40 years of Scribe could dominate the French theater. With his short stories and novels feature has been granted Scribe lesser success.

Works (selection)

Plays

  • Flore et Zéphyre
  • Le Comte Ory
  • Le Nouveau Pourceaugnac
  • Le Solliciteur
  • La Fête du mari
  • Le Mariage d' argent
  • Bertrand et Raton, ou l'art de conspirer (1833, German "Minister and silk merchant " )
  • La Camaraderie, ou la courte échelle
  • Une chaîne
  • Adrienne Lecouvreur ( especially for the actress Elisabeth Felix ( pseudonym of " Rachel " ) written )
  • Les Contes de la reine de Navarre
  • Bataille de dames
  • Mon étoile
  • Feu Lionel
  • Les Doigts de fée
  • La Camaraderie (1837, political satire of the July Monarchy )

Novels and short stories

  • Maurice ( novel, 1856)
  • Piquillo Alliaga (novel)
  • Les Yeux de ma tante (novel)

Opera libretti

  • La Neige ou Le nouvel Eginhard ( Daniel -François- Esprit Auber )
  • Le Cheval de bronze ( Daniel -François- Esprit Auber )
  • The white lady (François -Adrien Boïeldieu )
  • The Dumb Girl of Portici ( Daniel -François- Esprit Auber )
  • Fra Diavolo ( Daniel -François- Esprit Auber )
  • Les vêpres siciliennes ( Giuseppe Verdi), actually Le Duc d' Alba, along with Charles Duveyrier, who also wrote the revision
  • Gustave III. ou Le bal masqué ( Daniel -François- Esprit Auber ) ( model for Verdi's Masked Ball )
  • Robert the Devil ( Giacomo Meyerbeer )
  • The Jewess (Jacques Fromental Halévy )
  • The Huguenots ( Meyerbeer )
  • The Black Domino ( Daniel -François- Esprit Auber )
  • The Prophet ( Giacomo Meyerbeer )
  • The African Woman ( Giacomo Meyerbeer, op post office )
  • The transformed cat (Jacques Offenbach)
Comédie en vaudeville Cuplé X. B. Saintine L'Africaine A Glass of Water (1960 film) Fra Diavolo (opera) Robert le diable Le Domino noir La chatte métamorphosée en femme Integrated Authority File
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