Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (French pronunciation: [ʒyl emil fʁedeʁik masnɛ]; 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. Like many prominent French composers of the period, Massenet became a professor at the Conservatoire. He taught composition there from 1878 until 1896, when he resigned after the death of the director, Ambroise Thomas. Among his students were Gustave Charpentier, Ernest Chausson, Reynaldo Hahn and Gabriel Pierné. By the time of his death, Massenet was regarded by many critics as old-fashioned and unadventurous although his two best-known operas remained popular in France and abroad. After a few decades of neglect, his works began to be favourably reassessed during the mid-20th century, and many of them have since been staged and recorded. Although critics do not rank him among the handful of outstanding operatic geniuses such as Mozart, Verdi and Wagner, his operas are now widely accepted as well-crafted and intelligent products of the Belle Époque. |
Birth and Death Data: Born May 12, 1842 (Saint-Étienne), Died August 13, 1912 (Paris)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1901 - 1947
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 376-400 of 637 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Edison | 202 | 12-in. | approximately July 1910 | Vision fugitive | Edoardo Faticanti | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 269 | 12-in. | approximately Sept. 1910 | Egli e bel | Carolina White | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 286 | 10-in. | 9/23/1910 | Méditation | André Benoist ; Albert Spalding | Violin solo, with piano | composer | |
Edison | 351 | Not documented | approximately Sept.-Oct. 1910 | Il sogno | Franco de Gregorio | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 396 | 12-in. | approximately Nov. 1910 | Ah! Dispar, vision | Franco de Gregorio | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 420 | 12-in. | approximately Nov. 1910 | Egli e bel | Maria Farneti | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 521 | Not documented | approximately Jan. 1911 | Gavotte | Aino Ackté | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 572 | 10-in. | 3/23/1911 | Le rêve | Georges Régis | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 646 | Not documented | approximately Apr. 1911 | Il sogno | Elvino Ventura | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 782 | 10-in. | approximately July 1911 | Vision fugitive | Carel van Hulst | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 877 | 12-in. | Nov.-Dec. 1911 | Egli e bel come il ciel | Lucrezia Bori | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 879 | 12-in. | Nov.-Dec. 1911 | Dis-moi que je suis belle | Aino Ackté | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 882 | 10-in. | Nov.-Dec. 1911 | Adieu, notre petite table | Lucrezia Bori | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 935 | Not documented | 2/13/1912 | Ouvre tes yeux bleus | Armand Vecsey Hungarian Orchestra | Instrumental ensemble | composer | |
Edison | 954 | 10-in. | 3/4/1912 | Clair de lune | Armand Vecsey Hungarian Orchestra | Instrumental ensemble | composer | |
Edison | 959 | Not documented | 2/21/1912 | Dell oasi d'acque | Carmen Melis ; Giovanni Polese | Vocal duet (soprano and baritone), with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 992 | 10-in. | 4/10/1912 | Alessandria | Giovanni Polese | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 1128 | 10-in. | July 1912 | Addio, o nostro | Adelina Agostinelli | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 1129 | 10-in. | July 1912 | O messaggio di Dio | Adelina Agostinelli | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 1142 | 12-in. | July 1912 | Les lettres Werther! Werther! | Marie Delna | Contralto vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 1157 | 10-in. | July 1912 | Adieu, notre petite table | Marguerite Sylva | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 1159 | 10-in. | July 1912 | Il est doux, il est bon | Marguerite Sylva | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 1160 | 10-in. | July 1912 | Je suis encore tout étourdie | Marguerite Sylva | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 1246 | 10-in. | between 9/4/1912 and 9/9/1912 | Il sogno | Elvino Ventura | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 1347 | 10-in. | Nov. 1912 | Elégie | Aino Ackté | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Massenet, Jules," accessed May 18, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103068.
Massenet, Jules. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 18, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103068.
"Massenet, Jules." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 18 May 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Jules Massenet
Discogs: Jules Massenet
Allmusic: Jules Massenet
Grove: Jules Massenet
IMSLP: Jules Massenet
RILM: Jules Massenet
RISM: Jules Massenet
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Britannica: Jules Massenet
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Massenet, Jules, 1842-1912 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81023023
Wikidata: Jules Massenet - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q194436
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/14959005
MusicBrainz: Jules Massenet - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/85d783d6-6795-4726-b817-9d83095ad7be
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