Théâtre Feydeau
The Théâtre Feydeau (pronounced
The company first presented
In 1801 the Théâtre Feydeau merged with, and took the name of its chief rival, the Opéra-Comique. Except for a brief period from July 1804 to July 1805, when the merged company performed at the Salle Favart, it continued to perform at the Salle Feydeau until 1829, when it moved to a new theatre, the Salle Ventadour.[2] The Salle Feydeau was demolished shortly thereafter.
History
At the Tuileries
The company was founded on 26 January 1789 by
At the Saint-Germain Fair
On 6 October 1789
Piccini's La buona figliuola was warmly received on 3 February 1790 with the composer conducting, but Pasquale Anfossi's I viaggiatori felici was less highly regarded, on account of both its music and its libretto, with the exception of inserted numbers composed by Cherubini, who took a bow at the insistence of the audience. The sixteen-year-old violinist Pierre Rode played a concerto by Viotti between the acts of Giuseppe Sarti's Le gelosie villane on 18 October. The company continued to perform in the theatre at the Saint-Germain fairground until 31 December 1790.[8]
On the rue Feydeau
For the new theatre, a site just east of the north end of the Tuileries Palace, formerly occupied by the "Stables of Monsieur", was first considered. This location was thought advantageous, even at this late date, because the royal family could reach it without having to go out-of-doors. Several other sites were also considered, but by February 1790, a piece of land on the rue Feydeau was selected. Despite its proximity to the Salle Favart, home of the Opéra-Comique, and objections by Jean Sylvain Bailly, the mayor of Paris, permission was granted in April.[9]
The new theatre on the rue Feydeau was built in just over six months in a neoclassical style to the designs by the architects Jacques Legrand and Jacques Molinos and had a capacity of 1700–1900.[2] These designers were not too concerned with the practicality of the theatre space, but more with the splendor of the theatre. It was a rectangular building that was curved on the side of the lobby at the front. On the curved front were seven massive windows that let natural light into the lobby. In between these windows were statues that were the same height as the windows. The architects also included "carriage entrances at ground level that allowed theatre goers to disembark inside a protected vestibule" or entrance hall between an outer door and the main part of the building. These features, along with the statues on the outside of the lobby, were novel and attracted a lot of attention.[10][11]
The lobby was highly ornate and was where Legrand and Molnios focused a lot of their attention.[12] The theatre was lit by candlelight and by hanging chandeliers. There were seats in the pit as well as lining the sides of the theatre. There were three balconies and two different standing areas. There were also boxed seats next to the stage. Several "design flaws of the original plan would continue to haunt the theatre's administration."[10] The proscenium "extended beyond the stage in such a way that it obstructed the view of the stage for most of the side loges".[10] Bad sight lines were a problem with the original design of the theatre. The audience structure caused poor sound reverberations. There were two different remodeling projects, one in 1798 and one in 1801.[10]
The opening there took place on 6 January 1791, when Sarti's 3-act comic opera Le nozze di Dorina was presented.[2][13][14]
Up to 1791 the repertory had consisted primarily of Italian opera, with additional music added by Cherubini, but the exclusive privileges of the royal theatres were revoked on 13 January 1791. The company was now free to present French
Upon the Royal Family's return to Paris on 24 June 1791, after its unsuccessful flight and arrest in Varennes, the Théâtre de Monsieur was officially renamed Théâtre Français & Italien de la rue Feydeau, but by July this had been shortened to Théâtre de la rue Feydeau, or simply the Théâtre Feydeau.[15]
The first important French work was
The theatre became one of the meeting-places for
Sagaret directed the company from 1795 to 1799, but he also took on the management of two other theatres, the
In
Productions
- A revival of Beaumarchais(March 1791).
Premieres
- 1791: Lodoïska by Cherubini(18 July 1791)
- 1793: La caverne by Jean-François Le Sueur (16 February 1793)
- 1794: Eliza ou Le voyage aux glaciers du Mont Saint-Bernard by Cherubini (13 December 1794)
- 1797: Médée by Cherubini (13 March 1797)
- 1798: L'hôtellerie portugaise by Cherubini (25 July 1798)
- 1799: La punition by Cherubini (23 February 1799)
- 1800: Les deux journées, ou Le porteur d'eau by Cherubini (16 January 1800)
Media
References
Notes
- ^ The Salle Feydeau was demolished around 1829, but was located at what are now nos. 19 and 21 on the rue Feydeau (Lister 2009, p. 147).
- ^ a b c d e f g h Johnson 1992.
- ^ Willis 1992, p. 833.
- ^ Lasalle 1875, p. 63.
- ^ Harris-Warrack 1992, pp. 861–862.
- ^ McCellan 1994, p. 8.
- ^ Lister 2009, p. 145.
- ^ a b Lister 2009, p. 146.
- ^ Lister 2009, pp. 145–146.
- ^ a b c d McClellan 1994, p. 16.
- ^ Di Profio 2003, p. 78.
- ^ Di Profio 2003, p. 79.
- ^ a b c Sadie 1992, vol. 3, p. 867.
- ^ Lister 2009, p. 147.
- ^ Lister 2009, pp. 155–156.
- ^ Wild and Charlton 2005, p. 441.
- ^ Mongrédien 1992, p. 1157.
- ^ Wild and Charlton 2005, p. 303.
- ^ Charlton 1992, p. 869.
- ^ The Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. 15 (March and July 1835), p. 278. at Google Books.
Cited sources
- Charlton, David (1992). "Paris. 4. 1789–1870. (iii) The Opéra-Comique (Comédie-Italienne)" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, pp. 868–870.
- Di Profio, Alessandro (2003). La révolution des Bouffons: L'opera italien au Theatre de Monsieur 1789–1792. Paris: CNRS Editions. ISBN 9782271060174.
- Harris-Warrack, Rebecca (1992). "Paris. 3. 1725–89. (i) The public theatres" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, pp. 860–864.
- Johnson, Janet (1992). "The Théâtre Feydeau" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, p. 870.
- Kennedy, Emmet, Marie-Laurence Netter, James McGregor, and Mark Olsen (1996). Theatre, Opera, and Audiences in Revolutionary Paris: Analysis and Repertory. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313289606.
- Lasalle, Albert de (1875). Les treize salles de l'Opéra. Paris: Sartorius. View at Google Books.
- Lister, Warwick (1992). Amico: The Life of Giovanni Battista Viotti. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537240-3.
- McClellan, Michael Edward (1994). Battling Over the Lyric Muse: Expressions of Revolution and Counterrevolution at the Théâtre Feydeau, 1789–1801 (thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI. .
- Mongrédien, Jean (1992). "Le Sueur [Lesueur], Jean-François" in Sadie 1992, vol. 2, pp. 1156–1157.
- Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). ISBN 978-1-56159-228-9.
- Wild, Nicole; Charlton, David (2005). Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762–1972. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. ISBN 978-2-87009-898-1.
- Willis, Stephen C. (1992). "Cherubini. (Maria) Luigi (Carlo Zanobi Salvadore)" in Sadie 1992, vol. 1, pp. 833–837.
Other sources
- Péricaud, Louis (1908). Théâtre de Monsieur (in French). Paris: E. Jorel. Copy at Google Books.
External links