Germain Delavigne by Hortense de Beauharnais

Louis Marie Germain Delavigne (1 February 1790 – 3 November 1868) was a French playwright and

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

. Delavigne was born in

Giverny Giverny () is a commune in the northern French department of Eure.Commune de Giverny (27285) ...

to Louis-Augustin-Anselme Delavigne, a surveyor of the French royal forests, and his wife. He was the brother of

Casimir Delavigne Jean-François Casimir Delavigne (4 April 179311 December 1843) was a French poet and dramatist. Life and career Delavigne was born at Le Havre, but was sent to Paris to be educated at the Lycée Napoleon. He read extensively. When, on 20 Marc ...

(1793–1843) who was also destined for a theatrical career. A frequent collaborator of

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of ma ...

, Delavigne was involved in the creation of the libretti of two of the earliest

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...

's ''

La muette de Portici ''La muette de Portici'' (''The Mute Girl of Portici'', or ''The Dumb Girl of Portici''), also called ''Masaniello'' () in some versions, is an opera in five acts by Daniel Auber, with a libretto by Germain Delavigne, revised by Eugène Scr ...

'' (1828) and Giacomo Meyerbeer's ''

Robert le diable ''Robert le diable'' (''Robert the Devil'') is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer between 1827 and 1831, to a libretto written by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. ''Robert le diable'' is regarded as one of the first grand o ...

'' (1831). Amongst his later libretti were those for

Fromental Halévy Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (; 27 May 179917 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera ''La Juive''. Early career Halévy was born in Paris, son of the cantor ...

's '' Charles VI'' (1843) (co-authored with his brother Casimir) and

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's ''

La nonne sanglante ''La nonne sanglante'' (''The Bloody Nun''), is a five-act opera by Charles Gounod to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. Written between 1852 and 1854, it was first produced on 18 October 1854 at the Salle Le Peletier by the Paris ...

'' (1854).Smith (n.d.). Delavigne died at

Montmorency, Val-d'Oise Montmorency () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Montmorency was the fief of the Montmorency family, one of the oldest and most distinguished families of the French nobility. It is ...

in 1868.

References

Notes Sources * Smith, Christopher, (n.d.), "Delavigne, Germain", in '' Grove Music Online'' (subscription only), accessed 12 March 2014.

External links

* * 1790 births 1868 deaths People from Eure Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French opera librettists 19th-century French male writers {{France-playwright-stub