Description
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, known as Fromental Halévy, lived during one of the most eventful periods of French history, witnessing the fall of Napoleon, the rise and decline of constitutional monarchy, the re-emergence and demise of a new wave of republicanism and the establishment of the Second Empire. Far from living in an ivory tower he took part in what was happening around him, sometimes reflecting it in his music. Above all he was a composer of opera, that magic spectacle which fuses together drama, music, dance and art. His music was innovative, demanding, captivating. Many of his thirty-two performed operas were all the rage in Europe and the USA, while Queen Victoria was reported ‘highly pleased’ with La Tempesta, commissioned by Her Majesty’s Theatre in London. Wagner, in spite of his Das Judethum in der Musik, thought highly of La Juive and praised it to the end of his life.
Although not a practising Jew, Halévy set to music several psalms in Hebrew for liturgical use in French synagogues. At a time which saw the ascendance in Paris of French-born composers like Boieldieu, Hérold, Auber and Adam over their Italian contemporaries, he was the acknowledged leader of the nascent French school.
This is the first full-length biography of Halévy this century, including hitherto unpublished excerpts from his diary and correspondence.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Foreword
1. Born in France
2. Conservatoire and Prix de Rome
3. De Profundis
4. Villa Medici
5. First Steps in Paris
6. Ebb and Flow
7. La Juive
8. Coolness into Adulation
9. L’Eclair
10. Leader of the French school
11. Operas Comiques
12. A Momentous Year
13. From Patriotism to Macaroni
14. Back to Operas Comiques
15. Seven Weeks in London
16. How London saw La Juive
17. More of the Same
18. Life Secretary
19. A Time to Every Purpose
20. Last Works
21. And a Time to Die
22. A Descendant of B-A-C-H
23. Epilogue
Sources
References
Index
About the Author
At the age of nine, Haifa-born Ruth Jordan dreamed of being a coloratura soprano, at twelve she decided to be a writer, by twenty she had had several short stories published in various literary magazines. After graduating from University College London she joined the BBC World Service as a producer and documentary writer, with special emphasis on music and the arts. Later she lectured at the London Spiro Institute for Adult Education on the Old Testament as a source of inspiration to western music from Palestrina to the present day. Apart from biographies her work includes various translations into Hebrew, notably The Long the Short and the Tall by Willis Hall for Habinah, Israel’s National Theatre. She completed Fromental Halévy only days before she died.
Reviews
Ruth Jordan’s excellent book on Halévy’s Life and Music is full of 19th century critics praising Halévy’s profound learning, originality, and gift for melody.
Nicholas Fuller – The Opera Scribe
