Hippolyte-Julien-Joseph Lucas (20 December 1807,

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 ...

– 16 November 1878, Paris) was a French writer and critic whose literary output was largely centered on theatre and opera. He was the author of several plays and opera

libretti 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 ...

. In addition to his original stage works, Lucas also translated plays and libretti by other authors for performances in French. These included plays by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio ( , ; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature ...

, and

Calderón Calderón () is a Spanish and Sefardi occupational surname. It is derived from the Vulgar Latin "''caldaria''" ("cauldron") and refers to the occupation of tinker. Calderón, or Calderon, may refer to: * Alberto Calderón, Argentine mathematician ...

as well as

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

's operas ''

Belisario ''Belisario'' (''Belisarius'') is a ''tragedia lirica'' (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's adaptation of play, ''Belisarius'', first staged in Munich in 182 ...

'', ''

Maria Padilla ''Maria Padilla'' is a ''melodramma'', or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Gaetano Rossi and the composer wrote the Italian libretto after François Ancelot's play. It premiered on 26 December 1841 at La Scala, Milan. The plot is loose ...

'', and ''

Linda di Chamounix ''Linda di Chamounix'' is an operatic ''melodramma semiserio'' in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on 19 May 1842. Performance history ''Li ...

''. He was the editor of ''

Le Siècle ''Le Siècle'' ("''The Age''") is a daily newspaper that was published from 1836 to 1932 in France. History In 1836, ''Le Siècle'' was founded as a paper that supported constitutional monarchism. However, when the July Monarchy came to an end ...

'', but his literary and theatrical criticism appeared in many other French journals as well, most notably ''

L'Artiste ''L’Artiste'' was a weekly illustrated review published in Paris from 1831 to 1904, supplying "the richest single source of contemporary commentary on artists, exhibitions and trends from the Romantic era to the end of the nineteenth century." ...

'', ''

La Minerve ''La Minerve'' (French for "The Minerva") was a newspaper founded in Montreal, Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) by Augustin-Norbert Morin to promote the political goals of Louis-Joseph Papineau's Parti patriote. It was notably directed by Ludge ...

'', and ''

Le Charivari ''Le Charivari'' was an illustrated magazine published in Paris, France, from 1832 to 1937. It published caricatures, political cartoons and reviews. After 1835, when the government banned political caricature, ''Le Charivari'' began publishing ...

''. He was also a bookseller and later served as the librarian of the

Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal The Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal (''Library of the Arsenal'', founded 1757) in Paris has been part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France since 1934. History The collections of the library originated with the private library of Marc-René, 3rd ...

Principal works

Opera librettiSourced from Casaglia (2005) * '' L'étoile de Seville'',

grand opéra 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 ...

in four acts, composed by

Michael Balfe Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially ''The Bohemian Girl''. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to co ...

, 1845 * ''La bouquetière'', opera in one act, composed by

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and '' Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le pos ...

, 1847 * ''Le siège de Leyde'', opera in four acts composed by Charles-Louis-Adolphe Vogel, 1847 * ''La Saint-André ou L'orpheline bretonne'', opera in one act composed by Giovanni Luigi Bazzoni, 1849 * ''

Lalla-Roukh ''Lalla-Roukh'' is an '' opéra comique'' in two acts composed by Félicien David. The libretto by Michel Carré and Hippolyte Lucas was based on Thomas Moore's 1817 narrative poem ''Lalla Rookh''. It was first performed on 12 May 1862 by the ...

'' (with

Michel Carré Michel Carré (20 October 1821, Besançon – 27 June 1872, Argenteuil) was a prolific French librettist. He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing libre ...

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

in two acts, composed by

Félicien David Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer. Biography Félicien David was born in Cadenet, and began to study music at the age of five under his father, whose death when the boy was six left him an impoverish ...

, 1862 *''Fior d'Aliza'' (with Michel Carré), opéra comique in four acts, composed by

Victor Massé Victor Massé (born ''Félix-Marie Massé''; 7 March 1822 – 5 July 1884) was a French composer. Biography Massé was born in Lorient (Morbihan) and studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1844 for his cantata ''Le Rén� ...

, 1866 *''Les parias'', opera in 3 acts, composed by Edmond Membrée, 1874 Non-fiction *''Caractères et portraits de femmes'', Brussels: Meline, 1836 * ''Histoire philosophique et littéraire du théatre français: depuis son origine jusqu'à nos jours'', Paris: Gosselin, 1843 * ''Curiosités dramatiques et littéraires'', Paris: Garnier frères, 1855 Poetry *''Heures d'amour'', Paris: Chez Jules Gay, 1864. * ''Chants de divers pays'' (previously unpublished poems published posthumously by his son, Léo Lucas, and Olivier de Gourcuff. Nantes: Société des bibliophiles bretons et de l'histoire de Bretagne, 1893

References

Sources * * Meyerbeer, Giacomo and Letellier, Robert (1999)
''The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer: The Prussian years and Le Prophète, 1840-1849''
(translated and annotated by Robert Ignatius Letellier). Associated University Presse. *Robin, Charles (1848)
"Hippolyte Lucas"
''Galerie des gens de lettres au XIXe siècle'', pp. 213–232. Vict. Lecou *Vapereau, Gustave (1858)
"Lucas (Hippolyte-Julien-Joseph)"
''Dictionnaire universel des contemporains'', Vol 2, pp. 1127–1128. Hachette

External links

*
Works by and about Hippolyte-Julien-Joseph Lucas
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Hippolyte Julien Joseph 1807 births 1878 deaths French opera librettists French male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French male writers