Eugène Bertrand (15 January 1834 – 30 December 1899) was a French comedian, theatre managing director and opera house director.

Life

Born in Paris, he made his debut in the theatre at the Théâtre des Jeunes-Artistes then at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris. From 1859 to 1865, he was a comedian then theatre manager in the United-States. In 1865, he was hired at the Théâtre du Parc in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, before he briefly managed the two theatres in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...

(northern France). He then was managing director 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 It owes its creation to the theatre director Mademoisell ...

from 1869 to 1891. He was director of the

Opéra Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera fr ...

from 1 January 1892 until his death in 1899, first in association with

Campocasso Campocasso, real name Auguste Deloche, (30 September 1833 – August 1908) was a 19th-century French theatre director. After he had managed the Theatre of Lille, and then the one in Algiers in 1865, this deft impresario was appointed direct ...

, and then from 1894, with

Pedro Gailhard Pedro or Pierre Gailhard, full name Pierre Samson Gailhard, (1 August 1848 – 12 October 1918) was a French opera singer and theatre director. Gifted with an exceptional singing bass voice, Pedro Gailhard made his debut at the Opéra-Comique i ...

.Les lettres reçues par lui dans ses différentes fonctions conservées aux Archives nationales sous les cotes AB XIX 4127 à 4129
Voir la notice dans la salle des inventaires virtuelle des Archives nationales
At the Opéra he was the first to successfully produce operas by

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

and also mounted a new production Saint-Saëns' ''

Samson et Dalila ''Samson and Delilah'' (french: Samson et Dalila, links=no), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater ...

'' (1892) and gave the first performance of Massenet's ''

Thaïs Thaïs or Thais ( el, Θαΐς; flourished 4th century BC) was a famous Greek ''hetaira'' who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns. Likely from Athens, she is most famous for instigating the burning of Persepolis. At the time, Thaï ...

'' (1894).Forman 2010
pp. 51–52

References

Bibliography

* Forman, Edward (2010). ''Historical Dictionary of French Theater''. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertrand, Eugene French theatre managers and producers Directors of the Paris Opera 1834 births 1899 deaths People from Paris