Emmanuel Bondeville was a French composer and music administrator, born 29 October 1898 in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

, and died 26 November 1987 in Paris. He was a member of the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

Biography

As a young man he was organist at the church of Saint-Nicaise in Rouen and Notre-Dame in Caen. Bondeville lost both his parents when he was 16, and took on various jobs – organist, bank clerk, translator - to get by.Landormy P. ''La Musique Française après Debussy.'' Gallimard, Paris, 1943. He made his beginnings in music around 1923 writing works for piano, symphonic poems, opéras-comiques and opéras. During this time he also travelled around Europe and worked as an assistant in a music shop. He eventually had lessons in harmony and counterpoint from Jean Déré. In 1935 he became musical director of the radio stations Radio Tour Eiffel,

Radio Paris Radio Paris was a French radio broadcasting company best known for its Axis propaganda broadcasts in Vichy France during World War II. Radio Paris evolved from the first private radio station in France, called Radiola, founded by pioneering Frenc ...

, Radiodiffusion française then artistic director of Radio Monte-Carlo. From 1949 to 1951 Bondeville was 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-Italienn ...

,Wolff S. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900-1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. followed by a similar position at the

Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to b ...

from 1952 to 1969. He was married three time among which to the mezzo-soprano

Viorica Cortez Viorica Cortez (born 26 December 1935) is a noted Romanian-born mezzo-soprano, later French by naturalisation. Starting her operatic and concert career in the mid-1960s, she went on to become one of the most prominent female performers of the '7 ...

, to whom he dedicated his opera ''Antoine et Cléopâtre,'' and later to Dominique Plessis (with whom he broadcast programmes entitled ‘Une saison d'opéra’ on

France-Inter France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a " generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, l ...

)

Works

* ''Les Illustrations'', symphonic triptych comprising : ** ''Le Bal des pendus'' (first performed 6 December 1930 by the

Lamoureux Orchestra The Orchestre Lamoureux () officially known as the Société des Nouveaux-Concerts and also known as the Concerts Lamoureux) is an orchestral concert society which once gave weekly concerts by its own orchestra, founded in Paris by Charles Lamoureu ...

) ** ''Ophélie'' (1931) ** ''Marine'' (1933) * ''L'École des maris'' (opéra-comique after Molière), premiered at the Opéra-Comique on 19 June 1935 conducted by Albert Wolff * ''

Madame Bovary ''Madame Bovary'' (; ), originally published as ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' ( ), is a novel by French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and em ...

'', drame lyrique after Flaubert, premiered at the Opéra-Comique on 1 June 1951 in a production by

Louis Musy Louis Musy (22 October 1902, Algeria – 19 October 1981) was a French operatic baritone and stage director principally active at the Paris Opéra-Comique. His teacher was Léon David.Kutsch KJ, Riemens L. ''Großes Sängerlexikon''. Francke, Ber ...

, conducted by Albert Wolff, with

Jacqueline Brumaire Jacqueline Brumaire (born Herblay, 5 November 1921, died in Nancy 29 October 2000) was a French operatic soprano and later teacher. Life and career After training at the Conservatoire de Paris under Madeleine Mathieu, she debuted on 13 Octobe ...

in the title role. * ''Illustrations pour Faust'', (1942) * ''Gaultier-Garguille'', symphonic poem, (1951) * ''Symphonie lyrique'', (1956) * ''Symphonie chorégraphique'' (1961) * ''Antoine et Cléopatre'', opera (1972) premiered at the Opéra de Rouen in 1974

Titles, honours

* Commandeur de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

* Commandeur de l'

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system ...

* Grand Officier de l'

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's es ...

Croix de guerre 1914-1918 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

References

External links

Biographie
– Discours sur sa vie de son successeur à l'académie

Serge Nigg Serge Nigg (6 June 1924 – 12 November 2008) was a French composer, born in Paris. Biography After initial studies with Ginette Martenot, Nigg entered the Paris Conservatory in 1941 and studied harmony with Olivier Messiaen and counterpoint ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bondeville, Emmanuel 1898 births 1987 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians French male classical composers French opera composers French radio presenters Male opera composers Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Grand Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Musicians from Rouen