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 401-425 of 638 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Edison | 1386 | 10-in. | Feb. 1913 | Ouvre tes yeux bleus | Constance Drever | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 1415 | 10-in. | May 1913 | Je suis encore tout étourdie | Marguerite Sylva | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 2324 | 10-in. | 6/10/1913 | Méditation | Reed orchestra (unidentified; Edison Records) | Reed orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 2379 | 10-in. | 7/18/1913 | Méditation | Hans Kronold | Cello solo, with piano | composer | |
Edison | 2394 | 10-in. | 7/24/1913 | Méditation | André Benoist ; Albert Spalding | Violin solo, with piano | composer | |
Edison | 2595 | 10-in. | 11/28/1913 | Vision fugitive | Artists vary | Bass vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 2759 | 10-in. | Nov. 1913 | O casto fior del mio sospir | Fritz Feinhals | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 2770 | 10-in. | Dec. 1913 | Voyons Manon, plus de chimères | Aino Ackté | Soprano vocal solo,with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 2839 | 10-in. | Feb. 1914 | Open thy blue eyes | Lillian Wiesike | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 3417 | 10-in. | Nov. 1914 | Meditation | Orchestra (unidentified; Edison Records) | Orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 3423 | 10-in. | Nov. 1914 | Elégie | Helen Stanley | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 3489 | 10-in. | between 12/29/1914 and 12/31/1914 | Danse sacrée | Trio de Lutece | Instrumental trio | composer | |
Edison | 3762 | 10-in. | 5/7/1915 | Meditation | André Benoist ; Albert Spalding | Violin solo, with piano | composer | |
Edison | 3873 | 10-in. | 6/14/1915 | Elégie | Bruno Steindel | Cello solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 3963 | 10-in. | 7/14/1915 | Pleurez! Pleurez, mes yeux! | Julia Heinrich | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 4783 | 10-in. | 6/12/1916 | Te souvient-il | Arthur Middleton ; Alice Verlet | Vocal duet (soprano and baritone), with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 4844 | 10-in. | 7/5/1916 | Promesse de mon avenir | Orphée Langevin | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 5065 | 10-in. | 10/11/1916 | Oui, dans le bois | Yvonne de Tréville | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 5067 | 10-in. | 10/11/1916 | Obeissons quand leur voix appelle | Alice Verlet | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 5464 | 10-in. | 3/21/1917 | Elegie | Guido Ciccolini | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 5556 | 10-in. | 5/11/1917 | Gavotte | Blanche Skrainka | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 5883 | 10-in. | 11/15/1917 | Phedre overture | American Symphony Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 5884 | 10-in. | 11/15/1917 | Phedre overture | American Symphony Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 5912 | 10-in. | 12/6/1917 | Meditation | Robert Gayler ; Irma Seydel | Violin solo, with piano | composer | |
Edison | 6052 | 10-in. | March 1918 | Elégie | Marie Tiffany | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Massenet, Jules," accessed October 6, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103068.
Massenet, Jules. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved October 6, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103068.
"Massenet, Jules." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 6 October 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Jules Massenet
Discogs: Jules Massenet
Allmusic: Jules Massenet
Grove: Jules Massenet
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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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