Nicolas Isouard


Nicolas Isouard was a Franco-Maltese composer.

Biography

Born in Valletta, Malta, Isouard studied in Rabat or Mdina with Francesco Azopardi, in Palermo with, and in Naples with Nicola Sala and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. From 1795 he was organist at Saint John's Co-Cathedral - the Conventual Church of the Order of Saint John in Valletta
He moved to Paris, where he worked as a free composer and became friends with Rodolphe Kreutzer. The pair worked together on several operas, including Le Petit page, ou La Prison d'état and Flaminius à Corinthe. Isouard adopted the pseudonym Nicolò and found rapid success in the field of opéra comique with Michel-Ange and L'Intrigue aux fenêtres. He composed regularly for the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, writing some thirty works for the theatre.
He composed masses, motets, cantatas, romances, and duos, along with over 45 operas.

Family and legacy

Isouard had two daughters, Sophie-Nicole, a composer of romances, and Annette-Julie, a pianist and composer. His brother Joseph had a career as a singer and opera director before being named inspector of historic monuments in Rouen. Nicolas Isouard died in Paris and was buried in Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. A bust of the composer was placed on one of the facades of both the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique and the Palais Garnier, and one of the main squares in Paris was given his name.

Works

Casaciello, perseguitato da un Mago, Opera buffa - Two-act comedy 1793, MaltaL'avviso a Maritati, Opera, Florence June 1794Artaserse, re di Persia, Opera seria, Livorno August 1794. Two excerpts only survive. Edited by Richard DivallIl barbiere di Siviglia, Opera buffa after Pierre Beaumarchais, Malta Teatro Manoel 1796Rinaldo d'Asti, Dramma giocoso, Malta 1796L'improvvisata in campagna, Opera buffa, Malta 1796-7I due avari, Commedia per musica, Malta 1797Il bottaio, Opera comique, 1798Il barone d'Alba chiara, Commedia per musica, Carnevale, Malta 1798Ginevra di Scozia, Dramma serio eroico, 1798Le Petit page, ou La Prison d'état, Opera, Paris, February 1801Flaminius à Corinthe, Opera, Paris February 1801Le Tonellier Opera-comique, Paris May 1801L'Impromptu de campagne, Opera-comique, Paris June 1801La Statue, ou La Femme avare, Opera comique, 1802Michel-Ange, Opera, 1802Les Confidences, Opera, 1803Le Baiser et la quittance, ou Une Aventure de garnison, Opera comique, 1803Le Médecin turc, Opéra bouffon, 1803L'Intrigue aux fenêtres, Opera, 1805La Ruse inutile, ou Les Rivaux par convention, Opera, 1805Léonce, ou Le Fils adoptif, Opera, 1805La Prise de Passaw, Opera comique, 1806Le Déjeuner de garçons, Comédie mêlée de musique, 1806Idala, ou La Sultane, Opera comique, 1806Les Rendez-vous bourgeois, Opéra bouffon, 1807Les Créanciers, ou Le Remède à la goutte, Opera comique, 1807Un Jour à Paris, ou La Leçon singulière, Opera comique, 1808Cimarosa, Opera comique, 1808Zélomir, ou L'Intrigue au sérail, Opera comique, 1809Cendrillon, Opéra féerie after Charles Perrault, 1810La Victime des arts, ou La Fête de famille, Opera comique, 1811La Fête de village, ou L'Heureux militaire, Opera comique, 1811Le Billet de loterie, Opera comique, 1811Le Magicien sans magie, Opera comique, 1811Lulli et Quinault, ou Le Déjeuner impossible, Opera comique, 1812Le Prince de Catane, ou Alamon, Opera, 1813Le Français à Venise, Opera comique, 1813Bayard à Mézières, ou Le Siège de Mézières, Opera comique, 1814Joconde, ou Les Coureurs d'aventures, Opera comique, 1814Jeannot et Colin, Opera comique, 1814Les Deux maris, Opera comique, 1816L'Une pour l'autre, ou L'Enlèvement, Opera comique, 1816Les Deux capitaines de hussards Opera comique, Paris, March 1817Aladin, ou La Lampe merveilleuse, Opéra féerie, 1822Une Nuit de Gustave Wasa, Opera, 1825
Sacred works - all with orchestra and voices. Original Manuscripts - Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
  • Angelus Domini
  • Credo Leg a 4 Voci 1795
  • De torrente in A flat major
  • De torrente in B flat major
  • Diffusa est Gratia
  • Dixit Dominus a 4
  • Dixit Dominus Leg
  • Dominus Deus a Terzetto
  • Gloria in D
  • Gratia agimus tibi in E flat
  • Gloria Patri in E flat
  • Kyrie in E flat
  • Kyrie in C minor
  • Kyrie Messa no 2 in E flat - fragment
  • Juravit Dominus
  • Lauda Jerusalem
  • Laetatus sum
  • Magnificat
  • Missa a Quattro Voci 1790 Cospicua Archives
  • Missa Pro Defunctorum - Jommelli, orchestrated by Isouard
  • Nisi Dominus
  • Panis Angelicus
  • Qui Tollis
  • Quoniam Tu Solus
  • Salve Regina
  • Sinfonia in C minor
  • Stabat Mater Suscepimus Deus
  • Te Deum 1791
  • Vexilla Regis
  • Virgam Virtutis for tenor and bass duet
  • Virgam Virtutis for solo tenor
  • Virtute Magna
All of the above have been edited by Richard Divall and are available from the University of Divinity, Australia. Richard Divall is currently preparing a publication of a monograph and complete thematic catalogue, and an edition of the opera Cendrillon.