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Ernest Guiraud (1837 - 1892)
TRANSCRIPTION
Paris, 11.7/88
Mon cher
Halévy1
Je reçois à propos de la prochaine
reprise des Pêcheurs de perles2,
des visites
et des lettres de Mme Simonnet3
de l’Opéra
comique et des demandes de rendez-vous
de Paravey4. J’avoue ne pas très bien
comprendre
ce dont il s’agit, les études
de l’ouvrage n’étant pas encore commencées,
et je m’imagine, peut-être à tort, que cette
insistance est due à quelque chose que
j’ignore, et que vous pourriez m’apprendre.
Je crois donc utile de
vous écrire à ce
sujet, en vous priant de vouloir bien me
renseigner le plus tôt possible, afin que je sache
quelle doit être mon attitude vis à vis de
Paravey et de Mme Simonnet.
À vous de tout cœur,
Ernest Guiraud
21 Rue[?] Pigalle
(Side text)
À la demande de Paravey, j’ai entendu Mme
Eams5.
Jolie voix, jolie femme, peut devenir sujet distingué,
mais encore bien écolière et insuffisante pour
le moment à mon avis.
TRANSLATION
Paris, July 11, 18880
Dear Halévy1,
I have received,
concerning the revival of "Les
Pêcheurs de perles"2,
visits and letters from
Mrs. Simonnet3 of
the Opéra comiqué and requests
for a meeting from Paravey4.
I must admit I don’t
fully understand what this is all about, since the
study of the work has yet to be started. I imagine,
maybe erroneously, that their insistence is due to
something I am not aware of and that you could
tell me [what it is]. I therefore feel obligated to
write you about this and urge you to inform me
as soon as possible, so that I can know what
attitude to adopt toward Paravey and Mrs. Simonnet.
(Side Text)
As requested by Mr.
Paravey, I heard Mme Eams.5
[She has a] Pleasant voice, [and] she’s attractive,
[and she] could become distinguished [someday],
but in my opinion [she’s] too schoolgirl-like and [frankly]
insufficient for now.
Yours very truly,
Ernest Guiraud
21 Rue[?] Pigalle
NOTES:
0) July 11, 1888 was a Wednesday
1) Ludovic Halévy (1834-1908), nephew of composer Fromental Halévy, was
an influential librettist in Paris
2) Pêcheurs de perles -- The Pearl Fishers (1863), an opera by Georges
Bizet
3) Simonnet -- Probably Cécile Simonnet (b. 1865), French
soprano. Debut Monte
Carlo (1885). Sang roles in Marie d'un jour,
Le Signal (1886), Proserpine (1887),
Dante (1890), Le Rêve
(1891).
4) Paravey was director of the Paris Opéra-Comiqué
from 1887-1891. Paravey took
over the management following the tragic razing of the Salle
Favart Theatre on
May 25, 1887. The director at the time was Léon Carvalho
(1825-1897). Carvalho was
blamed for the fire. He was arrested, fined 200 francs, and jailed for 6 months.
Carvalho
appealed and was acquitted. He was reinstated as director in 1891. (Irvine,
Demar, Massenet: A Chronicle of His Life and Times, (Portland:1994) p.152
5) Eams -- Possibly Emma Eames (1865-1952),
Soprano.
ABOUT
THE COMPOSER:
Ernest Guiraud (1837 - 1892) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1837. His father,
Jean-Baptiste-Louis Guiraud won the
Prix de Rome in 1827 in competition with Berlioz.
In 1852, Guiraud went to Paris and studied with opera composer
Fromental Halévy. Seven years later, in 1859, Guiraud
won the Prix de Rome
for his cantata Bajazet et le joueur de flûte. Other operas
were:
Le roi David (juvenalia;
1852)
Sylvia (1864)
En prison (1869
Le Kobold (1870)
Madame Turlupin (1872)
Piccolino (1876)
La Galante Aventure (1882)
In November 1876 he became
professor of harmony and accompaniment at the Paris Conservatory. In 1880, he was made
professor of advanced composition. He never returned to America after the performance of Le
roi David . At his death, in 1892, he was working on his last opera, Fredegonde,
which was finally completed Camille Saint-Saens in 1895. It was scored by Paul
Dukas. Both Saint-Saens , Dukas, and Claude Debussy were his students at the Paris
Conservatory. In addition to his own compositions, Guiraud wrote recitatives for
Bizet's Carmen: arranged the second suite from Bizet's L’Arlésienne;
and revised the opera, Les Contes d’Hoffman, left unfinished by
Offenbach.
REV: 3/03/2004
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