PARIS – Travel guide for opera, classical music and culture

A latecomer

Auber came to Paris at the age of 20 and pursued music as a hobby. Cherubini became aware of him and encouraged the talented musician, who took his time and began to devote himself fully to music only at the age of 37, at an age when Mozart, Schubert and Chopin died and Rossini decided to stop composing. His fateful meeting was with the writer and librettist Eugène Scribe, who later became the first industrial creator of libretti. Auber achieved a sensational success with his “Muette de Portici” in 1829 and, together with Gioacchino Rossini and Giacomo Meyerbeer, became the founder of the Grand Opéra. His second famous work, “Frau diavolo” became a flagship of Paris’ second grand opera the Opéra Comique.

Famous for the Belgian Revolution

The Grand Opéra (rue Le Peletier) fell victim to a fire and in his honor the street in front of its successor, the Opéra Garnier, was named after him.

His opera “La muette de Portici” gained fame incidentally for its role in the Belgian Revolution (click link for more info). [/sc_fs_faq]

The Triumph with “I Puritani

When Bellini appears in Paris in 1833, he is welcomed with open arms. Rossini helps his compatriot and the famous young Cristina Belgiojoso (whose family Bellini met in Milan) welcomes him to her famous salon, where he meets an incredible crowd of artists such as Chopin, Liszt, Rossini, Heine, Victor Hugo, George Sand and, and, and. Bellini enjoys the life in the salons and starts his last opera “I Puritani”, which becomes an unsurpassable triumph in the “Théâtre des Italiens” with the century cast Grisi, Rubini, Tamburini and Lablache in 1835.

The mysterious death

Bellini wrote “i Puritani” as a guest at the home of the mysterious Salomon Levy in Puteaux, near Paris, where he retired during the summer months. In the summer of 1835, the intestinal problems from which Bellini had suffered since 1828 intensified. Friends who wanted to visit him were turned away by the gardener. The friends organized the visits of official doctors who demanded admission and met a weakened composer. Despite treatment, his condition did not improve and again the ominous gardener denied access to visitors. On September 23, Bellini, who was only 34 years old, died, with only the gardener said to have been at his bedside. Immediately the suspicion of poisoning arose in connection with Levy’s financial machinations. Rossini pushed for an autopsy of the corpse. This well-founded autopsy gave amoebic dysentery as the cause, caused by inflammation and deposits in the intestines and a fist-sized abscess on the liver.

The romantic story with Harriet Smithson

The 24-year-old Berlioz had been living in Paris for 7 years when he saw the Irish actress Harriet Smithson in a performance of Hamlet at the Odéon Theater in Paris in 1827. Although Berlioz did not understand a word of English, he fell madly in love with the actress. He wrote her letters by the dozen, but she did not respond.

When he moved to his apartment on Rue de Richelieu, he often saw the actress from afar, as she lived in the neighborhood. Berlioz took English lessons, but the Irishwoman spurned the Frenchman.

The romantic Berlioz saw only one way out. Namely, to write a symphony to musically describe the madness that raged within him. With the work, which he called “Sinfonie fantastique,” he wanted to win the favor of the beautiful. For the premiere, he described his longings for love in a program note, thus founding the genre of program music.

But Harriet, to Berlioz’s dismay, did not appear at the premiere, but was already back on the British Isle. It was not until two years later that things worked out. Harriet appeared for the performance in the Salle du Consérvatoire. Berlioz played the timpani with disheveled hair and fixed his gaze on the actress, who was sitting in the audience.

Happy End

What became of the couple, you may ask? Harriet was smitten and she fell in love with the romantic artist. The two married against the wishes of their families, the best man being Franz Liszt. A child was born, but the union did not last long; soon they began to quarrel and separated after a few years.

Berlioz remained attached to her and supported her until the end of her life. Years after her death, he had her reburied in Montmartre Cemetery, where he was buried next to her.

Harriet Smithson:

He did not live to see the success of his “Carmen”.

Bizet spent his entire life in Paris and its environs, except for his stay in Rome (he won the Prix de Rome). The French capital, however, was not very favorable to his famous son, and Bizet could not bask in success throughout his life. Even the fame of his most famous work, “Carmen,” came posthumously. Bizet rented a house in Bougival to compose his “Carmen” in peace. However, the composition history of Carmen was anything but quiet, the house even became his death house. He died three months after the premiere, already at the age of 36, of his longstanding angina, embittered by the ungracious reception of his “Carmen.”

From Nancy to Paris

France was one of the few countries Bruckner visited outside the German-speaking world. In 1869, Bruckner made a sensational visit first to Nancy, then to Paris. The reason for the visit was the inauguration of the newly rebuilt Saint-Epvre church in Nancy. The jewel of the church was a magnificent organ made by the Merklin-Schütze company, which had previously won the gold medal at the Paris World’s Fair. Because the Austrian emperor donated to the church for family reasons, he sent the organ virtuoso and professor of the Vienna Conservatory Bruckner to Nancy for the inauguration of the organ. When he got off the train in Nancy, the gentlemen of the reception committee were somewhat surprised by the strangely dressed man in his mid-forties.

The organ god beguiles the women of Paris

Hastily they organized a visit to the French capital. Delighted, Bruckner set off on a 3-day visit to Paris, where he played at various venues. The highlight was the concert in the church of Notre-Dame, where the entire musical world of Paris sat in the pews. The great organists Camille Saint-Saens and César Franck were overwhelmed by Bruckner’s playing. Daniel Auber and Charles Gounod, who were present, also praised the Austrian’s arts. Bruckner enjoyed the recognition and stated with a wink: “And the ladies who listened to me all said tres, tres. And you know, they were clean!” (Here more about Bruckner’s strange relationship to women)

The last performance in an opera

Maria Callas debuted in Paris when she had long since become a megastar.

The 1958 recital at the Garnier was an event of the first order, and in the hall sat a man who was to change her life: Aristotle Onassis. A relationship developed, but to her disappointment Onassis did not marry Callas but Jacky Kennedy. In 1965 Callas sang an opera for the last time, it was Norma in Paris, with which she ended her career.

The last years in Paris

From then on she lived in Paris, although the projects of her last 10 years (film Medea, master classes in New York, tour with di Stefano) all took place outside Paris. Privately, she lived in seclusion on the Avenue Georges Mandel. Occasionally she is said to have been spotted with Onassis, who is said to have been unhappy about his marriage to Jackie Kennedy and died two years before Callas in a hospital in Paris, where she is said to have still visited him.

In the salons of Paris

Chopin arrived in Paris in 1830 at the age of 20. His reputation had preceded him and he was soon able to make a living giving piano lessons to wealthy piano students. His first public concert in the Salle Pleyel was enthusiastically applauded by the elite of the Parisian art world. Chopin excelled in the salons (but gave only a few public concerts, which took place in the two Salle Pleyel) and befriended many personalities of the Parisian art world, especially Franz Liszt.

Because Chopin gave few public concerts, he earned his living to a considerable degree as a piano teacher to the wealthy class. He was a sought-after teacher and could charge high fees to finance his upscale lifestyle.

He loved expensive clothes, had employees and his own carriage, and worked intensively on his works. In 1837 he had plans to marry Maria Wodzińska, but they failed due to her parents’ opposition. Thereupon he met George Sand, whom he initially met with rejection (“What an unsympathetic woman she is! Is she really a woman? I almost doubt it”), but she became his companion for 10 years, which meant a small scandal for Parisian society, since this writer was divorced and led an unseemly life.

Early death at 37

Chopin remained faithful to Paris until his death, but made important trips to Germany (where he met Schumann and Mendelsohn), to Carlsbad (where he saw his family again), had a winter stay in Mallorca (with Georges Sand) and various summer holidays in Nohan (with Georges Sand). The last trip took him to England with Jane Stirling and took its toll on Chopin’s fragile health. He did not have much time left after that. During a few performances at the beginning of 1849 he even had to be carried up the stairs and he died in the same year in his apartment in the Place Vendôme.

George Sand:

Tragic love affairs

Debussy came to Paris at the age of 10 and attended the conservatory for 13 years. He was a difficult student, his personality was austere, but he had a great attraction for the female sex. Twice later relationships ended with suicide attempts (both times with revolvers) of his companions when they found out about Debussy’s love affairs. The second time, the victim was his first wife and it became a gigantic social scandal that temporarily drove Debussy and his later second wife, Emma Bardac (also married), out of Paris. Debussy remained faithful to Paris with interruptions and premiered most of his works here; his only opera “Pélléas et Melisande” was successfully premiered at the Opéra Comique in 1902.

With his beloved daughter

In 1905 his beloved daughter “Chochou” was born, to whom he dedicated his “Children’s Corner”. She tragically died at an age of 14.

Debussy with Chou chou:

Donizetti conquered the opera city of Paris

In 1835, Donizetti had visited the city for the first time at Rossini’s invitation, and his works enjoyed growing popularity. His first major highlight in the French capital was his triumph with the French version of “Lucia de Lammermoor” in 1837, after which Donizetti took the city by storm. If he began his Paris career at the Théâtre des Italiens, after 1837 he expanded his activities to the Grand Opéra and the Théâtre de la Renaissance.

With the “Fille du régiment” he took the fourth and last bastion of the Paris opera scene, the Opéra Comique. This led to Donizetti being able to realize opera projects in all four of the city’s opera houses in 1840/1841! Hector Berlioz wrote jealously in a newspaper: “Mr. Donizetti seems to want to treat us like a conquered country, it is a real war of invasion. We will no longer be able to speak of the lyric theaters of Paris, but of Donizetti’s theaters!” Donizetti was capable of writing simultaneously in four different styles for each theater, a true musical chameleon! He was at the peak of his creative powers and the greatest active opera composer in the world.

He wrote the unofficial national anthem of France

Donizetti wrote several operas for Paris, including “Don Pasquale” or “Dom Sébastien”, but his most lasting success was his “Fille du régiment”. The effect that opera, with its patriotic pieces, had on the French for decades is astonishing. It was on the schedule of French opera houses for many decades on the Quatorze Juillet and, like the Marseillaise and fireworks, was part of the national holiday. The “Salut à la France” was for a long time the unofficial national anthem of the French (see also the comments and the link to the “Salut à la France” below).

Tragic end

Saddening was the end of Donizetti. His advanced syphilis affected his health more and more, so that he had to be locked up in a sonatorium near Paris for 18 months. He was then taken to Bergamo where he later died mentally deranged.

TO THE COMPLETE DONIZETTI BIOGRAPHY

As a child prodigy in the salons

Franz Liszt came to Paris with his father in 1823 as a 12-year-old child prodigy. The conservatory director Cherubini rejected his application because foreigners were not admitted to the conservatory. Liszt subsequently became an attraction in the salons as a child prodigy, and he made countless concert tours abroad with his father. Unprecedented failures as a composer and the death of his father on a concert tour plunged the 17-year-old into a severe crisis, during which he sought solace in faith and brought his compositional activities to a complete halt. At the age of 21, he met Marie d’Agoult, a married woman five years his senior. An affair developed in which Marie became pregnant and had a child. When the affair became public, it became a scandal and damaged the artist’s reputation.

In this period also falls the famous pianist duel with the other “piano god” Sigismund Thalberg. In a legendary “showdown” in the salon of the Princess Belgiojoso in the rue d’anjou 23 (no longer exists), she passed the verdict: “Thalberg est le premier pianiste du monde, Liszt, lui, est le seul”. (Thalberg is the first pianist in the world, Liszt is the only one). The couple escaped to Italy for a long time, and the two returned after two years. There Liszt made friends especially with Georges Sand, Frederic Chopin and Hector Berlioz and got acquainted with all the artistic elite of Paris. From the age of 30 Liszt visited Paris only sporadically.

Of the places where Liszt had worked, most have disappeared, one of the few being the literary salon of the painter Ary Scheffler, which has been transformed into a charming little museum called “Le Musée de la Vie Romantique” (see furhter below in the section “Museums”).

The founder of French opera

Lully (1632-1687) is considered the founder of French opera. Born in Florence, he was brought to Paris as a 14-year-old garcon de chambre to a noble house. He was a talented musician and very good dancer when, at the age of 20, he met the 14-year-old future Sun King Louis XIV. Louis was also a dance enthusiast and a friendship developed between the two. For the next 30 years, Lully was employed at court and made it to the position of “Secrétaire du roi”.

He composed popular comedies for the court, first in collaboration with Molière, and then (in collaboration with Quinaut) the first operas, the so-called “Tragédie lyrique”, in which chorus and ballet played an important role, but without castrati as was customary in Italy at the time.

The famous death

At some point, Lully fell out with the king, and Lully wanted to straighten out the relationship.He saw an opportunity, when the king had again survived one of his many cruel operations (depending on the source, it was after the removal of a fist-sized abscess on the buttocks or after the unsuccessful extraction of a tooth, during which the palate was torn out and the bleeding in the throat was stopped with a hot iron), Lully wrote a “Te Deum” for 150 musicians, and had it performed at his own expense in the presence of the king in a church. He saw an opportunity, when the king had again survived one of his many cruel operations (depending on the source, it was after the removal of a fist-sized abscess on the buttocks or after the unsuccessful extraction of a tooth, in which the palate was torn out and the bleeding in the throat was stopped with a hot iron ), Lully wrote a “Te Deum” as a mass of thanksgiving for 150 musicians, and had it performed at his own expense in the presence of the king in a church. While conducting, he rammed the two-meter-long tambour stick with its tip into his big toe. The toe became infected and Lully refused amputation and died of blood poisoning.

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Late success

Jules Massenet wrote 25 operas, of which “Werther” and “Manon” still have absolute world renown. To this list belongs also his Méditation from “Thais”, which belongs to the canon of famous works of classical music. Massenet came to the Paris Conservatory at the age of 11 and became a professor there at the age of 36. His academic success, however, came much earlier than his artistic one, for Massenet, born in 1842, did not write his first lasting success until he was 42 years old, “Manon.” It premiered at the Opéra Comique, while “Werther” premiered at the Vienna Court Opera due to the fire at the opera house.

Massenet spent his artistically essential years in the Greater Paris area (Avon, Paris) and in 1899 he bought a chateau in Égreville as a second home. He died in Paris in 1912, the Égreville cemetery at the family residence was chosen as his burial place.

The epitome of the Grand Opéra

Today, the name Meyerbeer is known only to the initiated in the art of opera. Yet for two decades he was the dominator of the “Grand Opéra” in Paris, the most important opera in the world at that time. His work “Robert le diable” (1831) was one of the founders of the Grand Opéra, which staged 5-act operas at gigantic expense. All the great composers composed for the Salle Peletier (burned down in 1873). The German-born composer came to Paris in 1824 at the age of 33 and wrote 4 works for the Opéra in collaboration with the librettist Eugène Scribe (in addition “L’africaine”, “Les Huguenots”, “Le prophète”). In the second half of his life he divided his time between Berlin and Paris.

Target of Richard Wagner’s frustration

Meyerbeer is known today mainly because of Richard Wagner, who tried unsuccessfully to place his opera “Rienzi” at the Opéra in Paris and turned to Meyerbeer. The latter put in a good word for Wagner (without success) and generously supported him financially. Wagner repaid him with vile slander and anti-Semitism in his various writings.

The glamorous visit as an 8-year-old

Mozart’s first stay in Paris was spectacular. On their great trip to Western Europe, the Mozarts visited Paris in November 1763, and by December they were admitted to Versailles (see also below). The second longer visit turned into the tragic opposite with the death of his mother.

Wolfgang and Nannerl gave a private concert to the family of the French King Louis XV as early as December and were even invited to the royal dining room (the grand couvert) on January 1. At their first meeting, the 7-year-old Mozart wanted to kiss the Pompadour, but she rejected the advances of the gallant young man. Mozart was irritated by this, because the Empress Maria-Theresia had not given anything in Vienna…

The tragic visit as a 23-year-old

Father Mozart wanted his son to find employment in Paris at the Palace of Versailles. Because Leopold did not get a vacation, Mozart set off for Paris in winter with his 57-year-old mother. Mozart, who didn’t speak a word of French, was rejected one after the other and waited in the unheated antechambers while his mother waited hungry in the unheated cheap flophouse. He could not understand why no one was interested in him in Paris anymore. A few compositions and piano lessons kept them more or less afloat. His mother fell ill and died in her son’s arms after a short illness. Alone, Mozart had to return to his father in Salzburg.

From Cologne to Paris

Offenbach came from Cologne to Paris at the age of 14. His father wanted the gifted cellist to receive an education at the Conservatory. Paris remained his center of life until his death at 61. He stayed at the Conservatory for one year and spent the next 20 years as an orchestral and salon musician, building a rich network of contacts and writing his first small musical comedies.

Triumph and tragedy as entrepreneur and composer

At the 1855 World’s Fair, he saw his opportunity and set up his own business with the support of 15 financiers. There followed 15 years as an entrepreneur and composer with highs (the triumphs with “Orpheus in the Underworld”, “Grand Duchesse de Géroldstein,” “La belle Hélène,” etc.) and lows (the constant financial problems) until the Franco-German War briefly drove the German out of Paris. In the last decade he went on tours, including to the USA, to work off debts. His main artistic focus was working on “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” with which he tried to create a work for eternity. He did not live to see its premiere at the Opera-comique and died in 1880 in his apartment in Paris.

He came to Paris as a theatre director

The 32-year-old Rossini took up the post of director of the Théâtre lyrique in Paris in 1824. His last position was at the Naples Opera, and he had recently married the former star mezzo-soprano Isabel Colbran. He wrote 3 operas for Paris over the next 5 years, including “Guillaume Tell” in 1829, which remained his last opera. Why, remains to this day in the dark. Was it his failing health that caused him to suffer from depression (he suffered from progressive gonorrhea), was it creative exhaustion after years of excessive productivity, or did he believe that his music no longer fit the times?

Guillaume Tell as his last opera at the age of 32

After his “Tell” Rossini was in negotiation with the Grand Opéra. A contract for 10 years was in the question, during which Rossini was to deliver 4 works and receive a considerable lifelong pension in return. However, due to a financial crisis of the state budget, triggered by the July Revolution, these plans evaporated after a lengthy legal dispute.

Marriage to a courtesan and salon life in Paris

Rossini subsequently commuted between Paris and Bologna, and in 1832 met Olympe Pélissier in Paris, a veteran salon courtesan seven years his junior. She had to stand on her own two feet early on and chose the path as a lover of wealthy men. They began a relationship in 1832.

However, the following Paris years were marred by Rossini’s health problems, which caused him chronic pain. More about this in the section on his spa stays.

He separated from his first wife and, after her passing in 1845, married Olympe, who, together with Rossini, ran the famous Samedi-Soires in Paris during the last 10 years of Rossini’s life (see below). Rossini had the status of an influential “elder statesman” and his “old age sins” of gourmandism and his sharp tongue became famous through all sorts of anecdotes (see the digression below with Adelina Patti).

Rossini finally died in 1868 at his home in Plassy as a result of an operation for rectal cancer. He was given a grave of honor in the Père Lachaise cemetery.

Olympia Pélissier:

Stravinsky becomes a celebrity with the Ballets russes

Stravinski first came to Paris in 1910 for his “Firebird” for the Compagnie des Ballets russes. In the next years he came repeatedly back for his further projects of this ballet troupe of the Russian Dhiagilev.

The World War ended this phase and the Stravinski family spent the war years with their 4 children in Switzerland.

Affair with Coco Chanel

In 1920 Stravinski, who was in money trouble, moved to Granches near Paris at the invitation of Coco Chanel to her Villa Bel respiro. Coco Chanel had sat in the auditorium at the premiere of “Sacré du printemps” and met the composer. Chanel and Stravinski probably had an affair during his stay in Granches.

Difficult years

Stravinsky then lived in various places in France (among others in Biarritz) until 1936, when he took up residence in Paris on Rue Faubourg Honoré until the outbreak of World War II. He described these years as the saddest of his life. The family fell victim to tuberculosis. While Stravinsky had to be hospitalized for five months, his wife Katya and daughter Ludmilla died of this disease.[/sc_fs_faq]

TO THE COMPLETE BIOGRAPHY OF STRAVINSKY

Stravinsky with Sergei Dhiagilev, the impresario of the Ballets russes:

Coco Chanel:

The theatre tyrant made himself unpopular with the French

Paris meant an important period of Verdi’s life. He often stayed in the French capital, among other reasons to meet his future wife Giuseppina in 1847, later for his opera projects, of which he wrote the “Vêpres siciliennes” and “Don Carlos” for the Paris operas, other works were given French versions (including “les Trouvères” and “Macbeth“). Verdi was at times obsessed with conquering Paris and replacing Meyerbeer as the “opera god” in Paris. His first attempt was “Vêpres siciliennes”, in which Verdi personally took care of the staging and in the process cemented his reputation as a theatrical tyrant; soon he was only called “Merdi” behind closed doors at the opera by the (unpunctual) french musicians.

After Meyerbeer’s death, he was commissioned to write a work for the Grand Opéra during the 1867 World’s Fair. The effort for the “Don Carlos” was gigantic. The fact alone that the theater had to sew a staggering 355 costumes for the premiere is proof enough.

Verdi’s relationship with the Parisians was divided. Early on he was awarded the Legion of Honor, but he refused to take part in the procedure, calling it a muck, which was resented by the Parisians. In the 1950s, Verdi also had two sensational lawsuits with the French national poet Victor Hugo over the rights to perform the operas Ernani and Rigoletto, which were based on the Frenchman’s works.

Late recognition

Success came rather late and Verdi, at the age of over 70, accepted the award of Commander of the Legion of Honor and even dined with Napoleon III and Eugénie in their Compiègne castle.

LINK TO THE COMPLETE VERDI BIOGRAPHY

The organ of Notre Dame Church

Musically remarkable is the large organ, which goes back to the Cavaillé organ installed in 1868. Fortunately, it was not damaged in the fire of 2019. With its 8000 pipes, it is one of the most beautiful organs in the world and, a special feature, has an engine from … Rolls-Royce. It so happened that the general manager of Rolls-Royce witnessed the organ breaking down during a mass at Notre Dame. The generous man then donated a Rolls-Royce engine to the church!

Drop in on Sundays to see if there is a free concert at 16.30 (consult website beforehand).

Notre Dame Church, Paris:

https://www.notredamedeparis.fr/en/

Auber died in the turmoil of the Paris Commune; his grave is in Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Auber’s tomb:

In 1835 Bellini was honored with great sympathy at a state funeral in the Invalides Cathedral and laid to rest in the Père Lachaise. Giulia Grisi, who had sung in the triumphant “I Puritani” only 8 months earlier, sang the Lacrimosa to the tune of “Credeasi misera” from “I Puritani” and 350 choristers sang pieces by Bellini. He was buried in Section 11, where 14 years later and only a few meters away, Frédéric Chopin, who also died young, would be buried. In 1876 Bellini’s body was transferred to Catania, but the grave was kept.

Bellini’s Tomb:

Bizets was buried in this famous cemetery at Division 68, No. 101. The tomb was designed by Charles Garnier, the architect of the Garnier Opera House in Paris. In 2006 the beautiful bust was stolen. It has since been recovered and is in the possession of the cemetery.

Georges Bizet’s tomb (historic Picture):

After burial in the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Agios Stephanos on Rue Georges-Bizet, the ashes were interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in eastern Paris. The urn was first stolen and recovered and the ashes were scattered over the coast of the Aegean Sea in accordance with her wishes.

On Chopin’s grave Euterpe, the muse of music, is watching and crying in view of a broken instrument. The monument is by Auguste Schlésinger, husband of George Sand’s daughter Solange.

His heart was taken from his body before burial, which his sister smuggled to Poland.

Rossini’s body was buried alongside Chopin and Bellini at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris after a solemn funeral. In May 1887, his remains were transferred to Florence.

His honorary grave is located in Division 4.

Berlioz’s simpler tomb was later replaced by a more monumental version.

In 1880 Offenbach was buried here, among others Hortense Schneider was present at the funeral.