Léo Delibes

(Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes (February 21, 1836 – January 16, 1891) was a French composer of Romantic music. He was born in St. Germain-du-Val, France.

Career

Starting in 1847, Delibes studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire as a student of Adolphe Adam. A year later, he also began taking voice lessons, though he would end up a much better organ player than singer. He held positions as a rehearsal accompanist and chorus master at the Théâtre-Lyrique, second chorus master at the Paris Opéra, (1864), and as organist at Pierre de Chaillot between 1865 and 1871. His first of many operettas was Deux sous le charbon, written in 1856 for the Folies-Nouvelles. Delibes achieved true fame in 1870 with the success of his ballet Coppélia; its title referred to a doll, depicted in the work, which comes to life. Other ballets include Sylvia (1876), and La Source (1866), his first, which he wrote with Léon Minkus.

Related Topics:
1847 - Composition - Paris Conservatoire - Adolphe Adam - Voice lessons - Organ - Accompanist - Chorus master - Théâtre-Lyrique - Paris Opéra - 1864 - Pierre de Chaillot - 1865 - 1871 - Deux sous le charbon - 1856 - 1870 - Ballet - Coppélia - Sylvia - 1876 - La Source - Léon Minkus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Delibes also composed various operas, the last of which, the lush orientalizing Lakmé (1883), contains the famous coloratura showpiece the Bell Song ("Où va la jeune Indoue") and the Flower Duet, a barcarolle that British Airways commercials familiarized for non-opera goers in the 1990s. At the time, his operas impressed Tchaikovsky enough for the composer to rate Delibes more highly than Brahms—which seems faint praise when you consider that the Russian composer considered Brahms "a giftless bastard."

Related Topics:
Opera - Lakmé - Barcarolle - British Airways - Tchaikovsky - Brahms

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Delibes added the Divertissement to Adam's ballet Le Corsaire; wrote a Mass, a cantata on the theme of Algiers; and composed operettas and occasional music for the theater, such as dances and antique airs for Victor Hugo's Le roi s'amuse, the play that Verdi turned into Rigoletto.

Related Topics:
Divertissement - Le Corsaire - Algiers - Victor Hugo - Verdi - Rigoletto

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~