Scribe, Eugène (1791-1861)

Scribe, Eugène

PLAYWRIGHT, LIBRETTIST, NOVELIST (FRANCE)

BORN 25 Dec 1791, Paris - DIED 21 Feb 1861, Paris
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 35, ligne 01, L, 33)

Eugène Scribe was the son of a silk merchant. He was educated for a profession in law but he preferred to write for the stage. Zijn "Le Prétendu sans le savoir" was staged anonymously at the Variétés in 1810 but it failed. "Une Nuit de la garde nationale", written in collaboration with Delestre Porson, was his first success in 1815. In 1822 his comedy "Valérie" was staged at the Théâtre Français.

He wrote continuously, often in collaboration with others. He delivered libretti for many operas that were performed at the Opéra in Paris, working with Meyerbeer, Bellini, Aubel, Halévy and others. Famous actresses like Rachel and Mmle Mars performed his work and in 1834 he was elected into the Académie Française. He remained single for a long time but in 1848 he married Julie Marduel (19 Apr 1808-20 Apr 1884), the widow of a wine merchant named Biollay.

The politician Georges Coulon (1838-1912) was possibly his son from a liaison with the actress Augustine-Antoinette Finot-Léonard.

Related persons
• cooperated with Adam, Adolphe-Charles
• cooperated with Auber, Daniel
• cooperated with Halévy, Fromental
• cooperated with Meyerbeer, Giacomo

Events

23/2/1835	Premiere of Fromental Halévy's "Ja Juive" at the Opera in Paris. The librett owas written by Eugène Scribe. François Habeneck was the conductor. Performers were Asolphe Nourrit, Cornélie Falcon, Julie Dorus-Gras, Niclas Levasseur and Henri-Bernard Dabadie. [Falcon, Cornélie][Halévy, Fromental][Levasseur, Nicolas-Prosper][Nourrit, Adolphe]
5/3/1838	Premiere of Fromental Halévy's "Guido et Ginevra" at the Salle Peletier in Paris. The librett owas written by Eugène Scribe. Performers included Nicolas Levasseur, Gilbert Duprez, Julie Aimée Dorus-Gras, Rosine Stolz, Ferdinand Prévôt, Eugène Massol and Maria Flécheux. It was a moderate success. [Halévy, Fromental][Levasseur, Nicolas-Prosper][Massol, Eugène]
2/9/1839	Premiere of "Le Shérif" by Fromental Halévy at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and it was based on a short story by Balzac. Performers included François-Louis Henry, Gustave-Hippolyte Roger and Laure Cinti-Damoreau. [Halévy, Fromental]
14/4/1849	Premiere of "Adrienne Lecouvreur" by Ernest Legouvé and Eugène Scribe at the Théâtre Français in Paris. Rachel Félix created the title part. [Félix, Rachel ]
8/6/1850	Premiere of Fromental Helévy's "La tempesta" at Her Majesty's theatre in London. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe, based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Performers were Filippo Coletti, Henriette Sontag, Carlotta Grisi and Luigi Lablanche. [Grisi, Carlotta][Halévy, Fromental]
23/4/1852	Premiere of Halévy's opera "Le Juif Errant" at the Salle Pelletier in Paris. The libetto was written by Eugène Scribe and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. Narcisse Giard was the conductor. Perofemers were Eugène Massol, Louis-Henri Obin, Gustave-Hippolyte Roger, Fortunata Tedesco and Emma la Grua. [Girard, Narcisse][Halévy, Fromental][Massol, Eugène]
1/9/1853	Premiere of Fromental Halévy's "Le nabab" at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and it was their last collaboration. The opera ran for 38 performances. Performers were Caroline Miolan-Carvalho, Charles-Auguste-Marie Ponchard and Joseph-Antoine-Charles Couderc. [Carvalho-Miolan, Caroline][Halévy, Fromental]
18/10/1854	Premiere of Gounod's opera "La nonne sanglante" at the Salle Pelletier in Paris. The opera was perrformed eleven times in October and November 1854. It was poorly received and when opera director Nestor Roqueplan was replaced by François Crosnier the opera was cancelled immediately. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne and was a loose adaption of a scene from the novel "The Monk" by Matthew Lewis. Narcisse Girard was the conductor. Jean-Baptiste Merly played comte Ludorf and Jacques-Alfred Guignot was baron Moldaw. Louis Guéymard was Rudolf's son Rodolphe and Anne Poinsot was Angès. Palmyre Wertheimber was La nonne sanglante. [Girard, Narcisse][Gounod, Charles][Roqueplan, Nestor]
28/4/1865	Premiere of Meyerbeer's opera "L'Afrcaine" at the Salle Pelletier in Paris. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and its working title was "Vasco de Game". The full score score was copied on the day before Meyerbeer died in 1864. It was staged by François-Joseph Fétis. The conductor was François George-Hainl. The singers included Marie Sasse, Emilio Laudin, Marie Battu, Jean-Baptiste Faure. Emperor Napoleon III and empress Eugénie were attended the premire. [Meyerbeer, Giacomo][Napoleon III Bonaparte]
6/11/1902	Premiere of Cilea's opera "Adrienne Lecouvreuer" at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. The Italian libretto was written by Arturo Colautti and it was based on the play of the same name by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé. Angelica Pandolfini played the title part and Enrico Caruso was Maurizio. Giuseppe De Luca was Michonnet. [Caruso, Enrico]

Images

The grave of Eugène Scribe at Père Lachaise, Paris.
Picture by Androom (19 Nov 2006)

Published: 07 Jan 2018 Last update: 18 Sep 2024