Albert Vizentini (9 November 1841 – 21 October 1906) was a French violinist, composer, conductor and music writer. His main centre of activity was the French capital, but he also worked for ten years in Russia and toured in Britain and Ireland.Martin J. ''Nos artistes ; portraits et biographies.'' Paul Ollendorff, Paris, 1895.

Life and career

Vizentini came from an Italian musical family active in the theatre, one of whom had established himself at the

Comédie-Italienne Comédie-Italienne () or Théâtre-Italien () are French names which have been used to refer to Italian-language theatre and opera when performed in France. The earliest recorded visits by Italian players were ''commedia dell'arte'' companies ...

.Fétis F-J. ''Biographie universelle des musiciens.'' Vol II, 639-640. Paris, 1878. As a child he appeared in various children's roles at the Théâtre de l'Odéon, making his debut on 31 December 1847 in ''Le Dernier Banquet'', a revue by

Camille Doucet Camille Doucet (16 May 1812 in Paris – 1 April 1895 in Paris) was a French poet and playwright. Biography Camille Doucet was born on 16 May 1812, in Paris, France. He was a solicitor's clerk and notary, the secretary of Baron Fain in the ...

. His father Augustin worked at the Vaudeville Theatre in Paris, then became stage manager in the last season of the

Théâtre Lyrique The Théâtre Lyrique () was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Paris Opera, Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien (1801–1878), Théâtre-Italien). ...

. He undertook musical studies at the Conservatoire in Brussels, under Leonard and Fétis, achieving first prize in violin in 1860 and a first prize in composition in 1861. After briefly acting as assistant conductor at the theatre in Antwerp he returned to Paris. Vizentini joined the orchestra of the

Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens () is a Parisian theatre founded in 1855 by the composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers ...

then became leader of the orchestra at the

from 1861 to 1866, as well as appearing as a concert soloist. He began conducting at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin and toured with another French operetta troupe to London, English provincial towns and Ireland, From 1865 to 1873 Vizentini wrote about the theatre and music for various journals, displaying a lively wit and solid knowledge. His articles appeared in ''

Le Charivari ''Le Charivari'' was an illustrated magazine published in Paris, France, from 1832 to 1937. It published caricatures, political cartoons and reviews. After 1835, when the government banned political caricature, ''Le Charivari'' began publishing ...

'', ''L'Entr'acte'', the ''Grand Journal'', ''Paris-Magazine'', ''L'Événement illustré'', ''L'Éclair'', and he founded a short-lived theatrical bulletin ''Le Télégraphe''. Having started to work at the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Lyrique Vizentini took over from Offenbach there in 1875, where he acted as both music director and administrator. He started with a lavish premiere production on 26 October of ''

Le voyage dans la lune ''A Trip to the Moon'' ( , ) is a 1902 French science-fiction adventure trick film written, directed, and produced by Georges Méliès. Inspired by the Jules Verne novel ''From the Earth to the Moon'' (1865) and its sequel '' Around the Moon' ...

'' by Offenbach. The following year he attempted to rekindle the spirit and repertoire of the Théâtre Lyrique, by bringing on more substantial operas. He had much support, in particular from composers, the press and public administration, and secured a subsidy towards the running costs. The major premiere was to be ''Dimitri'' by

Victorin de Joncières Félix-Ludger Rossignol (12 April 1839 – 26 October 1903), known as Victorin de Joncières (), was a French composer and music critic.Wright LA. "Victorin de Joncières". In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London & New York, 1 ...

, an opera in 5 acts, for which Vizentini assembled a notable cast of singers, including

Victor Capoul Joseph Victor Amédée Capoul (27 February 1839 – 18 February 1924) was a French operatic lyric tenor renowned for his graceful singing style as well as his wonderful acting skills. Forbes E., Steane J.B., "Victor Capoul". In: ''The New Grov ...

, Michot,

Jacques Bouhy Jacques-Joseph-André Bouhy (18 June 1848 – 29 January 1929) was a Belgian baritone, most famous for being the first to sing the "Toreador Song" in the role of Escamillo in the opera ''Carmen''. Bouhy was born in Pepinster. After studying at t ...

Léon Melchissédec Léon Melchissédec (born Clermont Ferrand, 7 May 1843, died Neuilly-sur-Seine 23 March 1925) was a French baritone who enjoyed a long career in the French capital across a broad range of operatic genres, and later made some recordings and also ...

, Grivot and

Heilbron Heilbron is a town in the Free State (South African province), Free State province of South Africa which services the cattle, dairy, sorghum, sunflower and maize industries. Raw stock beneficiation occurs in leisure foods, dairy products and st ...

. He next decided to mount a production of ''Paul et Virginie'' by

Victor Massé Victor Massé (; born Félix Marie Massé; 7 March 1822 – 5 July 1884) was a French composer. Biography Massé was born in Lorient (Morbihan) and studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1844 for his cantata ''Le Rénég ...

which enjoyed a major success, followed by works such as ''

Le Timbre d'argent ''Le timbre d'argent'' (, ''The Silver Bell'') is an in four acts by composer Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. Although completed in 1865, the opera did not receive its premiere performance until 23 Fe ...

'', by Saint-Saëns, ''Le Bravo'' by Salivaire, and ''L'Aumônier du régiment'' by Hector Salomon. Nonetheless, in spite of artistic success and public sympathy the company closed after twenty months in early January 1878. Vizentini organised a massive music festival in December 1878 at the Paris Hippodrome with at least 15,000 spectators, where he shared the podium with contemporary composers conducting their own works.Irvine D. ''Massenet: a chronicle of his life and times.'' Amadeus Press, Portland, 1997. On 18 May 1879 Vizentini was part of the group gathered at Offenbach's house for the first private performance of ''

Les contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

''.Wolff S. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900–1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. From 1879 to 1889 Vizentini was chief conductor and stage manager of the

Imperial Theatres Imperial Theatres of Russian Empire () was a theatrical organization financed by the Imperial exchequer and managed by a single directorate headed with a director; was pertain to the Ministry of the Imperial Court from 1742. The system operated i ...

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, also conducting the Pavlovsk concerts. He premiered ''Richard III'' by Salvayre which was not a success, and arranged the music for the ballet ''

The King's Command or The Pupils of Dupré ''The King's Command'' (also known as ''L'Ordre du Roi'', or ''Les Élèves de Dupré'') is a ballet in 4 Acts-6 Scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music composed by Albert Vizentini. The work was first presented by the Imperial Bal ...

'' in 1886. Back in France he became the administrator of the

Théâtre des Variétés The Théâtre des Variétés () is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974. History The theatre owed its creation to Mademoiselle Montans ...

and the

Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques () was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted ...

, then from September 1894 stage manager of the Théâtre du Gymnase. In 1897 Vizentini became director of the Grand Théâtre de Lyon, where he staged and conducted the first French performance of Wagner's ''

Die Meistersinger Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

''. Later he was invited by

Albert Carré Albert Carré (; born Strasbourg 22 June 1852, died Paris 12 December 1938) was a French theatre director, opera director, actor and librettist. He was the nephew of librettist Michel Carré (1821–1872) and cousin of cinema director Michel Ca ...

(with whom he had worked at the Gymnase) to come to the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

as stage director, which he did from 1898. After a three-month illness he died before the start of the 1906-07 season.Carré’s oration quoted in Stoullig E. ''Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique, 32ème édition, 1906.'' G Charpentier et Cie, Paris, 1907, p115-6.

Compositions

Vizentini composed four opérettes, ''La Tsigane'' (Folies-Marigny, 1865), ''Le Moulin ténébreux'' (Bouffes-Parisiens, 1869) ''La Plantation Thomassin'' (Théâtre - Vichy, 1894) and ''La Gaudriole'' (Villa Les Fleurs -

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie. His humorous book ''Derrière la toile (Foyers, Coulisses, Comédiens) Physiologies des théâtres Parisiens''. Faure, 1868, recounts his observations of the different theatres in Paris and pen-portraits of famous artists.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vizentini, Albert 1841 births 1906 deaths Musicians from Paris French male conductors (music) Music directors (opera) 19th-century French violinists 19th-century French male musicians French male classical violinists 19th-century French composers French male composers Recipients of the Order of St. Anna