Élie Cohen was a conductor, principally active in the field of opera in France during the inter-war years and made many recordings."Élie Cohen – chef d’orchestre"
Les archives de l'Opéra Comique. Accessed 22 February 2021.

Career

Cohen made his debut at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

on 7 August 1922 with ''

Lakmé ''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in P ...

'' and continued to conduct there up to 1940. He also conducted premieres and new productions of ''A Quoi Rêvent les Jeunes Filles'' (Fraggi), ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'', ''Printemps Fleuri'' (ballet, music Tchaikovsky), ''Reflets'' (ballet, music Schmitt), ''Le Chemineau'', ''

Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Puccin ...

'', ''Masques et Bergamasques'' (Leroux), and ''La Peau de chagrin'' (Levadé).Wolff, Stéphane. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique 1900–1950.'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953, p. 335. He conducted the

Opéra de Nice The Opéra de Nice is the principal opera venue in Nice, France, which houses the Ballet Nice Méditerrannée and the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra. It offers three types of performances: operas, ballets and classical music concerts. History The � ...

from at least the 1936/1937 season, an example of which was an all-

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

opera and ballet evening in 1937. His appointment there was warmly welcomed by both public and critics. Outside France he conducted ''Lakmé'' in Geneva in 1934 with

Vina Bovy Vina Bovy (Malvina Bovi Van Overberghe) born Ghent 22 May 1900, died in the same city 16 May 1983 was a Belgian operatic soprano. Rosenthal H., "Vina Bovy". In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London & New York, 1997. She studied ...

in the title role. He was listed as an assistant conductor of the Orchestre Radio-symphonique-lyrique which was evacuated along with many other musicians to

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

in September 1939 just after the opening of hostilities. Cohen was a regular conductor of French opera for Columbia in the 1920s and 30s.

Alan Blyth Geoffrey Alan Blyth (27 July 1929 – 14 August 2007) was an English music critic, author, and musicologist who was particularly known for his writings within the field of opera. He was a specialist on singers and singing. Born in London, Blyt ...

. Record review – ''Carmen'' (extracts), Bizet. ''

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

'', February 2007, pp. 228–229. Notable among Cohen's recordings are complete versions of ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'' (1928, missing the dialogue and act 1 finale; the Flower Song is conducted by Gaubert), ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...

'' (1932), and ''

Werther ''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...

'' (1931), where his achievement of "unforced, eloquently expressive, forwardly-placed French word-singing" has been much praised.Loppert, Max. Review of ''Werther'' at the Royal Opera House. ''Opera'', November 2004, vol. 55, no. 11, pp. 1293–1294. He may also be found directing the accompaniment to recorded operatic excerpts sung by French singers of the period, and some ''

Songs of the Auvergne ''Chants d'Auvergne'' (; en, italic=yes, Songs from the Auvergne) is a collection of folk songs from the Auvergne region of France arranged for soprano voice and orchestra or piano by Joseph Canteloube between 1923 and 1930. The 27 songs, collecte ...

'' with

Madeleine Grey Madeleine Grey (11 June 1896 – 13 March 1979) was a French classical singer whose voice is usually described as soprano but which also encompassed a mezzo-soprano repertoire. Early life Madeleine Grey (née Madeleine Nathalie Grumberg) was bo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Elie Year of birth missing French male conductors (music) 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male musicians