Charles Cuvillier (24 April 1877 – 14 February 1955) was a French composer of

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

. He won his greatest successes with the operettas ''La reine s'amuse'' (1912, played as ''

The Naughty Princess ''The Naughty Princess'' is an opéra bouffe with music by Charles Cuvillier, book by J. Hastings Turner, and lyrics by Adrian Ross. The work, adapted from ''La reine joyeuse'' by Cuvillier and Andre Barde, depicts a princess with very modern idea ...

'' in London) and with '' The Lilac Domino'', which became a hit in 1918 in London.

Biography

Cuvillier was born in Paris, and studied at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

with

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

and

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

.Lamb Andrew
"Cuvillier, Charles."
''Grove Music Online''. Oxford Music Online, accessed 8 March 2011 He began writing for the Paris musical stage and had a success with ''Avant-hier matin'' (1905), a small scale work with piano accompaniment.Cuvillier, Charles,"
''Encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale'' (French text), accessed 8 March 2011 Later stage works to achieve success in France and abroad included ''Son p'tit frère'' (1907), his first collaboration with André Barde, and ''La reine s'amuse'' (1912). The latter (also known as ''La reine joyeuse'') featured Cuvillier's biggest hit, "Ah! la troublante volupté". Before the First World War he made a career in Germany as well as France. The second of his two works written for German theatres, ''Flora Bella'', was playing in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and had its run immediately brought to a stop when war was declared."'Flora Bella' Lively Casino's New Opera"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 12 September 1916, accessed 8 March 2011 Cuvillier fought in the trenches against Germany during the war, and thereafter made his career in France and the U.K. Cuvillier was popular in England after the First World War. ''Avant-hier matin'' played with success in London as ''Wild Geese'', and ''La reine joyeuse'' ran for 280 performances as ''

''.Findon, B.W., "The Naughty Princess", ''

The Play Pictorial ''The Play Pictorial'' was an English theatrical magazine that was published in London between 1902 and 1939. ''The Play Pictorial'' provided pictorial records of West End theatrical productions. Each issue described a single show, with descrip ...

'', October 1920, p. 86 His greatest international success was the operetta '' The Lilac Domino'', originally ''Der lila Domino'' (Leipzig, 1912). The critic Andrew Lamb writes that Cuvillier composed "light, insinuating music, distinguished by typically French phrasing." Cuvillier also composed film music, including ''Mon amant l'assassin'' (1931), ''Occupe-toi d'Amélie'' (1932) and ' (1935). Cuvillier died in Paris in 1955, at the age of 77.

Stage works

*1903: ''La Citoyenne Cotillon'', comédie dramatique by Henri Cain and Ernest Daudet, incidental music by Cuvillier *1905: ''Avant-hier matin'' (libretto: Tristan Bernard), Paris,

Théâtre des Capucines The Théâtre des Capucines was a theatre on the boulevard des Capucines in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. Built in 1889 by architect Édouard-Jean Niermans, it was taken over by two brothers, Émile Isola and Vincent Isola, in 1892 to become ...

*1907: ''Le flirt de Colombine'' (Jaques Redelsperger),

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Romain Coolus René Max Weill (25 May 1868 – 9 September 1952), who used the pseudonym Romain Coolus, was a French novelist, dramatist and film scriptwriter. Biography Works Theater * 1893 : ''Le Ménage Brésile'' (first play), one-act comedy, at ...

), Paris, Comédie-Royale *1909: ''

Afgar ''Afgar, or the Andalusian Leisure'' is a musical with lyrics by Douglas Furber, music by Charles Cuvillier and a book by Fred Thompson and Worton David. It is based on Cuvillier's 1909 French operetta of the same name, with words by André B ...

, ou Les loisirs andalous'' (Barde and Michel Carré, fils), Paris, Capucines *1910: ''La fausse ingénue, ou les Muscadines'' (Barde), Paris, Capucines *1912: '' Der lila Domino'' (Emmerich von Gatti and Bela Jenbach),

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, Stadttheater *1912: ''Sapho'' (Barde and Carré), Paris, Capucines *1912: '' La reine s'amuse'' (Barde), Marseille, Variétés; revised as ''La reine joyeuse'', Paris, Olympia, 1918 *1912: ''L'Initiatrice'' ( Robert Dieudonné and Hugues Delorme), Paris, Mayol *1913: ''Flora Bella'' (), Munich,

Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz The Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (; State Theatre at ), commonly called the Gärtnerplatztheater, is an opera house and opera company in Munich. (The "Gärtnerplatz" is an urban square in the borough Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt.) Designed by , ...

; French version (Barde): ''Florabella'', Célestins,

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, 1921 *1915: ''Judith courtisane,'' ( Régis Gignoux), Paris, Théâtre Michel *1918: ''Mademoiselle Nom d'une pipe'' (

Georges Duval Georges-Louis-Jacques Labiche (26 October 1772 – 21 May 1853), better known as Georges Duval, was an early 19th-century French playwright. Biography Duval was originally expected to become a priest, but the French Revolution occurred when ...

, Paris, Palais Royal *1920: ''The Sunshine of the World'' ( Gladys Unger after K.K. Ardashir), London,

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

*1920: ''Johnny Jones and his Sister Sue,'' (Harry M. Vernon), London,

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...

*1922: ''Annabella'' (Maurice Magre), Paris, Théâtre Fémina *1922: ''Par amour'' (Magre), Paris, Paris, Femina *1922: ''Nonnette'' (Barde), Paris, Capucines *1924: ''Bob et moi'' (Barde, L. Meyrargue), Paris, Michel *1926: ''Qui êtes-vous?'' (H. Genty, Berr and Jouvault),

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

*1929: ''Laïs ou La Courtisane amoureuse'' (Barde) (see'' Son p'tit frère'', 1907, above) *1929: ''Boulard et ses filles'' (

Louis Verneuil Louis Jacques Marie Collin du Bocage (14 May 1893 – 3 November 1952), better known by the pen name Louis Verneuil, was a French playwright, screenwriter, and actor. Biography Born in Paris, Verneuil wrote approximately sixty plays and was b ...

, Saint-Granier, Jean le Seyeux), Paris,

Théâtre Marigny The Théâtre Marigny () is a theatre in Paris, situated near the junction of the Champs-Élysées and the Avenue Marigny in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement. It was originally built to designs of the architect Charles Garnie ...

*1935: ''Le Train de 8h47'' (Georges Courteline, Lépold Marches, Barde), Paris, Palais Royale

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuvillier, Charles 1877 births 1955 deaths French opera composers French operetta composers French male opera composers Composers from Paris