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 476-500 of 638 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Gramophone 2060b 10-in. July 1902 Enchantement Emma Calvé Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Gramophone 02164v 12-in. 10/31/1911 Duo de Saint Sulpice Léon Campagnola ; Berthe César Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 02165v 12-in. 10/31/1911 Duo de Saint Sulpice Léon Campagnola ; Berthe César Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 02170v 12-in. 11/2/1911 Et je sais votre nom Léon Campagnola ; Berthe César Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 02171v 12-in. 11/2/1911 Non, votre liberté ne sera pas ravie Léon Campagnola ; Berthe César Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 2310c 12-in. 8/26/1911 Flieh', o flieh' Otakár Mařák Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 2870b 10-in. Nov. 1902 Il sogno Fernando de Lucia Tenor vocal solo, with piano composer  
Gramophone 2884b 10-in. Oct. 1903 O casto flor Giuseppe De Luca Baritone vocal solo, with piano composer  
Gramophone 3027b 10-in. Feb. 1903 Quand nos jours s'eteindront Francesco Tamagno Tenor vocal solo, with piano composer  
Gramophone HO3901af 12-in. 7/25/1919 O nature, pleine de grâce Fernand Ansseau Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra and piano composer  
Gramophone 4220L 10-in. ca. 1906 Spěj o spěj Otakár Mařák Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Gramophone HO4427af 12-in. 6/9/1920 Ne pouvant réprimer les elans de la foi Fernand Ansseau Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5628h 10-in. 1908 Le rêve Léon Beyle Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5716h 10-in. 1908 Adieu, notre petite table Léon Beyle ; Aline Vallandri Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5734½h 10-in. 1908 J'écris à mon père Léon Beyle ; Lucette Korsoff Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5735h 10-in. 1908 Et je sais votre nom Léon Beyle ; Lucette Korsoff Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5750h 10-in. 1908 Nous vivrons à Paris Léon Beyle ; Lucette Korsoff Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5779p 12-in. approximately May 1906 Promesse de mon avenir Maurice Renaud Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5786o 10-in. ca. Jul. 1906 Noël païen Maurice Renaud Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5793o 10-in. ca. 1906 On l'appelle Manon Léon Beyle ; Lucette Korsoff Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5802p 12-in. approximately Aug. 1906 Vision fugitive Maurice Renaud Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 5973½h 10-in. 1908 Ah! fuyez douce image! Antonio Rocca Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 6514o 10-in. Mar. 1907 Invocación de los Erynes Henry‏ Debruyne ; Cornelis Liégeois ; Migard ; G. Soudan String quartet composer  
Gramophone 10047u 10-in. approximately 1906 Traum Leo Slezak Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Gramophone 10050u 10-in. approximately 1906 Flieh', o flieh' Leo Slezak Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
(Results 476-500 of 638 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Massenet, Jules," accessed November 24, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103068.

Massenet, Jules. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 24, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103068.

"Massenet, Jules." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 24 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103068

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