Paul Antonin Vidal (16 June 1863 – 9 April 1931) was a French

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 by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

, conductor and music teacher mainly active in Paris.Charlton D. Paul Vidal. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.

Life and career

Paul Vidal was born in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

, and studied at the conservatoires there and in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, under

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 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 ...

at the latter. He won the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1883, one year before

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

. On 8 January 1886, in Rome, Vidal and Debussy performed Franz Liszt's '' Faust Symphony'' at two pianos for Liszt himself, an after-dinner performance that Liszt apparently slept through. The following day they played Emmanuel Chabrier's '' Trois valses romantiques'' for Liszt. Vidal conducted at the Opéra National de Paris where he made his first appearance directing ''

Gwendoline Gwendoline is a feminine given name, a variant of Gwendolen. Notable people called Gwendoline * Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo (1879–1955), a British interior decorator * Gwendoline Butler (born 1922), an English writer of mystery fiction *Gwen ...

'' in 1894 (he had coached the singers for the Paris premiere in 1893), and later conducted the first performance of '' Ariane'' and the Paris premieres of ''

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

'' by Massenet, and ''L'étranger'' by d’Indy. He co-founded the Concerts de l’Opera with

Georges Marty Georges-Eugène Marty (Paris, 16 May 1860 – Paris, 11 October 1908Library of Congress. http://authorities.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?AuthRecID=4288929&v1=1&HC=1&SEQ=20100728202454&PID=Rfe3ELLp2eibDcKIq7wZTn6gPY. Accessed 28 July 2010.) ...

. He was Music Director of the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

from 1914 to 1919, conducting revivals of '' Alceste'', ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, ''El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...

'' (the French version of Mozart's Don Giovanni), ''

Iphigénie en Tauride ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' (, ''Iphigenia in Tauris'') is a 1779 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard. With ''Iphigénie,'' Gluck to ...

'', ''L'irato'', ''Le Rêve'' and '' Thérèse''. He also conducted the premieres of several operas and ballets.Wolff, Stéphane. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900-1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. He taught at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, where his students included composers Lili Boulanger,

Marc Delmas Marc Marie Jean Baptiste Delmas (28 March 188530 November 1931) was a French Expressionist composer and writer. Life and career Marc Delmas was born in Saint-Quentin, Aisne, France, and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Xavier Leroux an ...

Jacques Ibert Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert (15 August 1890 – 5 February 1962) was a French composer of classical music. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his firs ...

and Vladimir Fédorov. He died in Paris, aged 67. His brother Joseph Bernard Vidal (1859-1924) was also a composer.

Compositions and pedagogy

His compositions are virtually forgotten today: they include the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

s ''Eros'' (1892), ''Guernica'' (1895) and ''La Burgonde'' (1898); ballets ''La Maladetta'' (1893) and ''Fête russe'' (1893, arr. - both choreographed by Joseph Hansen, Paris Opera); a cantata ''Ecce Sacerdos magnus''; and

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

Théodore de Banville Théodore Faullain de Banville (14 March 1823 – 13 March 1891) was a French poet and writer. His work was influential on the Symbolist movement in French literature in the late 19th century. Biography Banville was born in Moulins in Allier, A ...

's ''Le Baiser'' (1888) and

Catulle Mendès Catulle Mendès (22 May 1841 – 8 February 1909) was a French poet and man of letters. Early life and career Of Portuguese Jewish extraction, Mendès was born in Bordeaux. After childhood and adolescence in Toulouse, he arrived in Paris in 185 ...

' ''La Reine Fiammette'' (1898). In collaboration with

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...

, he also orchestrated piano music of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

into a ''Suite de danses'' (1913). He is perhaps better known today through his keyboard harmony exercises, ''Recueil de basses et chants donnés'' which was a favorite teaching tool of his pupil, the legendary pedagogue

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

, and subsequently many of her students including Narcis Bonet who has republished a selection of these exercises under the title ''Paul Vidal, Nadia Boulanger: A Collection of Given Basses and Melodies".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Paul 1863 births 1931 deaths Musicians from Toulouse French male classical composers French Romantic composers French opera composers Male opera composers French male conductors (music) 20th-century French male classical pianists 19th-century French male classical pianists Prix de Rome for composition Conservatoire de Paris faculty Conservatoire de Paris alumni Pupils of Jules Massenet Burials at Batignolles Cemetery 20th-century French conductors (music)