Théâtre Lyrique
The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century. The company was founded in 1847 as the Opéra-National by the French composer Adolphe Adam and renamed Théâtre Lyrique in 1852. It used four different theatres in succession, the Cirque Olympique, the Théâtre Historique, the Salle du Théâtre-Lyrique, and the Salle de l'Athénée, until it ceased operations in 1872.
The diverse repertoire of the company "cracked the strict organization of the Parisian operatic world by breaking away from the principle that institution and genre were of one substance." The company was generally most successful with revivals of foreign works translated into French, particularly operas by Gluck, Mozart, Weber, and Verdi, but probably is most remembered today for having given the first performance in Paris of Wagner's Rienzi, as well as the premieres of operas by French composers, in particular Georges Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles, Hector Berlioz's Les Troyens à Carthage, Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, and above all Gounod's Faust, the opera performed most often by the Théâtre Lyrique, and still one of the most popular operas throughout the world.
After the company ended operations in 1872 several short-lived companies revived the name, most notably Albert Vizentini's Théâtre National Lyrique, but none were as successful as the original.
On the boulevard du Temple
1852–1854: Jules Seveste
The Théâtre Lyrique was created from the Opéra-National at the end of the latter's 1851–1852 season by a simple change of name. It continued to perform at the same venue, the Théâtre Historique on the boulevard du Temple. Jules Seveste, the new director who had taken over after the death of his brother Edmond, opened the season on 4 September 1852 with the premiere of a particularly noteworthy new French opéra comique, Adolphe Adam's three-act Si j'étais roi, which received an especially lavish production. Dual casts were employed so the piece could be performed on successive evenings. Adam's opera was given 66 times before the end of the year, and eventually received a total of 166 performances by the company, the last being in 1863. The 60th performance in December was an especially gala affair, attended by a noted patron of the arts, Princess Mathilde, daughter of Jérôme Bonaparte and cousin of Napoleon III. The latter had just established the Second French Empire, having himself crowned emperor on 2 December. For a boulevard theatre which typically charged a maximum of five or six francs for its most expensive seats, this was indeed an increase in status. Seveste was also fortunate with his second new offering that season, a "trifling" one-act opéra comique by Eugène Gautier called Flore et Zéphire, which was first performed on 2 October 1852 and ultimately presented 126 times by the company.The engagement of the famous tenor Jean-Baptiste Chollet, who had recently returned from London and at 54 was rather far along in his career, received much favorable coverage in the press. His debut with the company was on 3 November in the role of Chapelou in a revival of Adam's Le postillon de Longjumeau, a part which he had created to great acclaim in 1836. The critic Gustave Hécquet wrote that "Chollet has lost nothing of his talent from the old days. He still has his figure, his comic gestures, his delivery... You can imagine how he was received in the role in which he always triumphed. It was like a family gathering, a return of the prodigal son...".
On 22 January 1853 it was formally announced that Napoleon III would marry Countess Eugénie de Montijo, and the wedding took place a week later amid the usual festivities. Princess Mathilde may have reported favorably to her relatives of her visit to the Théâtre Lyrique: the Emperor and his new bride attended a performance there on the night of 28 February. The boulevard du Temple was specially lit up and decorated for the occasion, and Seveste received the couple at the foot of the staircase leading up to the auditorium. The program included Flore et Zéphire, Le postillon de Longjumeau, and the premiere of a two-act opéra-ballet, Le lutin de la vallée. The last had a libretto by Jules Edouard Alboize de Pujol and Michel Carré and music by Eugène Gautier with insertions of pieces by Adam and Arthur Saint-Léon. Saint-Léon, a "very indifferent" composer, was primarily a dancer and choreographer, but also played violin. For the premiere Saint-Léon had composed and played a violin solo called "Une matinée à la Campagne" in which he imitated all the sounds of a barnyard. It proved to be the most popular piece of the evening, and if he played it for the royal couple, it was probably well received – their musical tastes ran to polkas and waltzes. One of the ballerinas, Marie Guy-Stéphan, whom Saint-Léon had brought with him from the Paris Opera Ballet, received a diamond bracelet from the new Empress as a token of appreciation.
Besides the previously mentioned productions, Seveste's first season included nine other premieres and two additional revivals of opéras comiques, all by French composers, but none of these proved to be quite as successful. Over the summer additional chorus members were auditioned and engaged, and the first violinist and assistant conductor Adolphe Deloffre was promoted to principal conductor. Deloffre would remain in that post until 1868, when he moved to the Opéra-Comique.
Seveste's 1853–1854 season continued to introduce many new French works, including a three-act opéra comique by Adolphe Adam called Le bijou perdu, which was first performed on 6 October. A new singer, the 26-year-old Marie Cabel, created the lead soprano role of Toinon and became one of the star attractions of the company. Cabel, who had been discovered as a child by Pauline Viardot, had failed to make much of an impression at the Opéra-Comique in the 1849–1850 season, but she achieved greater success at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels from 1850 to 1853 and in guest appearances in France at theatres in Lyons and Strassbourg. At the Lyrique she began attracting the carriage trade, and boxes had to be reserved four or five days in advance. The first 15 performances of the new opera yielded more than 60,000 francs. The Emperor and Empress came to see her just before Christmas. The opera received 40 performances before the end of that year, and a total of 132 by the company.
Cabel also created the role of Corbin in the one-act opéra comique Georgette ou Le moulin de Fontenoy at the Lyrique on 28 November 1853. The music was by the Belgian composer François-Auguste Gevaert, the libretto was by Gustave Vaëz, and the production received 43 performances. Later that season on 16 March she created the role of Marie in the three-act opéra comique La promise. The music was composed by Louis Clapisson, the libretto was by Adolphe de Leuven and Léon-Lévy Brunswick, and it was given a total 60 times that season and the next.
After the season had ended, Lafont organized a troupe consisting of some of the singers in the company and presented a two-month summer season at St James's Theatre in London. Jules Seveste decided to stay in France to prepare for the fall season. In London Cabel was the star, attracting full-houses even in the midst of the summer heat and performing in Adam's Le bijou perdu, Auber's Les diamants de la couronne, and Donizetti's La fille du régiment.
The wheels of the bureaucracy had finally caught up with reality at the Théâtre Lyrique on 21 May 1854, when the Minister of the Interior announced that Jules Seveste was now indeed the legitimate holder of the ten-year license, formerly for the Opéra-National, which had originally been awarded to his brother Edmond in 1851. Unfortunately, Jules Seveste died unexpectedly on 30 June 1854 in Meudon near Paris.
1854–1855: Émile Perrin
became the new director on 26 July 1854, while also retaining his post as director of the Opéra-Comique. This arrangement created some anxieties within the company regarding potential conflicts of interest between itself and its chief rival. An announcement was made in an attempt to allay these concerns: "Each of the two establishments will have a separate company and special repertory. The Théâtre Lyrique will not be the vassal of its elder brother, on the contrary, every effort will be made to keep up a noble spirit of emulation between the two, which cannot fail to be profitable to the art."Marie Cabel, having been under contract to Jules Seveste, was now free to leave, and there were reports she might go to the Opéra. Perrin was however successful in signing her to a new contract, and the new season opened on 30 September with Cabel in La promise. Two singers new to the company were also to receive much praise: the mezzo-soprano Pauline Deligne-Lauters, who would later marry Louis Guéymard and have a successful career at the Opéra; and the tenor Léon Achard, who would later create the role of Wilhelm Meister in Ambroise Thomas' Mignon at the Opéra-Comique.
The terms of the company's cahier des charges were also made somewhat more restrictive at this time, calling for 15 acts of new works per season, at least three by composers previously unperformed in Paris. In addition, Perrin was not allowed to present more than 6 acts by any composer who had already had four or more works staged by the Opéra or the Opéra-Comique.
During Perrin's one full season with the company he produced 11 new French operas and only two revivals. The most successful of the premieres was a three-act opéra comique by Fromental Halévy called Jaguarita l'Indienne, which eventually received a total of 124 performances. Marie Cabel starred in the title role, and a new tenor, Jules Monjauze, who had previously been an actor at the French Theatre in Saint Petersburg and at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris, sang Maurice. Other notable premieres included Adolphe Adam's three-act opéra comique Le muletier de Tolède with Marie Cabel in the leading soprano role of Elvire ; Adam's one-act opéra comique À Clichy ; and a one-act opéra comique by Ferdinand Poise called Les charmeurs. The last had a libretto by Adolphe de Leuven based on Charles Simon Favart's Les ensorcelés, ou Jeannot et Jeannette.
After beginning the season with a series of six less-than-successful premieres, Perrin revived a much-needed money-maker, the three-act Robin des bois. This was a highly altered version of Weber's Der Freischütz, that had been translated and adapted in 1824 by Thomas Sauvage and Castil-Blaze, for performance at the Théâtre de l'Odéon. Eugène Scribe had also been brought in to make some revisions early in the run, but he preferred to keep his contribution anonymous.
This version had also been performed with success at the Opéra-Comique in 1835 and in several provincial theatres. The alterations to Weber's opera were both textual and musical and involved a change in setting from Bohemia during the Thirty Years War to ostensibly Yorkshire during the reign of Charles I, although Sir Walter Scott's novels may also have been an influence, since Scotland is also mentioned. The famous Wolf's Glen scene was located at the crossroads of Saint Dunstan. Among the alterations to the music was the addition of a duet from Weber's Euryanthe, although Perrin appears to have omitted this. Weber had objected to the many changes, but Castil-Blaze replied that Weber was being ungrateful, as the alterations would guarantee the opera's success in France. Adding "financial insult to artistic injury", the adaptors, not the composer, were the ones to receive the performance fees.
Perrin's revival of Robin des bois opened on 24 January 1855 and was performed 59 times that season and a total of 128 times by the company up to 1863, when it was replaced with a more faithful translation of the original called Le Freischütz. The singers included Pauline Deligne-Lauters in the role of Annette, Caroline Girard as Nancy, Rousseau de Lagrave as Tony, and Marcel Junca as Robin. Hector Berlioz in the Journal des débats thought the sets and the men's chorus were good, but the woodwinds in the orchestra made so many egregious errors that the audience began murmuring. Paul Scudo in the Revue des deux mondes agreed, saying that the orchestra was "at its wits ends", while adding that the singers were all subpar except for Deligne-Lauters.
The Musical World reported that Madame Lauters had been coached by Gilbert Duprez:
Never could singer be under more unfit master for an opera like Der Freischütz. M. Duprez seems to have considered this masterpiece from the Castil-Blaze point of view; and as the "maestro" had taken liberties with this great composer's text, the "professore" thought he might, with equal good grace, embellish and vary the melodies. He set himself to work, and spared not roulades, shakes, and ricercate, whereof Weber had no idea, and which, had he heard them, would have driven him mad. Madame Lauters thought she could not go wrong in following the advice of so great a master of the art vocal as M. Duprez, and accordingly she repeated, note for note, what he had taught her. The public delighted at a tour de force, quand même, applauded 'to the echo;' and it was only on reading the feuilletons of the principal journalists that Madame Lauters woke from her dream of contented happiness. Like a sensible woman she profited by advice, though the cup was bitter and the dose strong. I have heard her again, and was delighted to find she had discarded M. Duprez and returned to Weber. A greater improvement, a more decided change for the better, I could hardly have imagined; nor could there be a greater treat than to hear Weber's exquisite melodies uttered by the rich and musical voice of Madame Lauters.