Jean-François Alfred Bayard (; 17 March 1796,
Charolles
Charolles (; Burgundian: ''Tsarolles'') is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Since 2004 is Charolles part of the Charolais-Brionnais Country.
Geography
Charolles is locate ...
,
Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part.
Saône-et-Loire is B ...
– 20 February 1853,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
) was a French playwright. He was the nephew of fellow playwright
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 man ...
.
Life
As a law student and a lawyer's clerk, Bayard wrote with passion for the theatre and, after several attempts, had a great success at the
Gymnase theatre, with ''la Reine de seize ans'' (1828, in-8°). One of the most fertile-minded and skilful
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
writers of his era, he made a close friendship with
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 man ...
, often collaborating with him on plays and marrying his niece.
Belonging to the school of
Dancourt and
Picard
Picard may refer to:
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* Picard, Quebec, Canada
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* Picard (crater), a lunar impact crater in Mare Crisium
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* Picard (name), a list of people and fictional characters with th ...
, he wrote with extreme ease, producing more than 200 plays for several theatres, sometimes alone, sometimes in collaboration. Many of his plays were remarked upon for their witty cheerfulness, and for not excluding sensitivity and everything else that was in vogue in the 19th century. He most often wrote vaudevilles, though he also had success with drama and even high comedy. In 1840, he collaborated with
Georges Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges on the
libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
for
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...
's
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 Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...
''
La fille du régiment
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
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* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
*"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...
''.
Despite his intensive writing schedule, Bayard devoted a large part of his time to the
SACD, and was over many years one of the most active commissioners of new work from them. In this role, nearly all works on his life state that he competed with the directors of Paris's theatres.
In 1837 his family's fortunes having fallen on hard times, Bayard was forced to accept a job offer as director of the
théâtre des Variétés
The Théâtre des Variétés () is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974.
History
The theatre owed its creation to Mademoiselle Montans ...
. Although he only held the job for a short time, Bayard signalled his tenure with happier results than many who held it longer. After having begun to rehabilitate public opinion towards this theatre, which had fallen from the first rank of the
théâtres des boulevards, he later felt it impossible to reconcile his writing and his tastes as an author with the demanding duties of a director and decided to leave the post. However, his last administrative act as director - choosing one of his most witty collaborators, his friend
Dumanoir
Philippe François Pinel (), known as Dumanoir (; 31 July 1806 – 16 November 1865), was a French playwright and librettist.
Biography
Dumanoir was born in Capesterre-Belle-Eau, Guadeloupe. He was the son of Mrs. Pinel-Dumanoir, whose family ...
, as his successor - was also a happy one for the theatre. Dumanoir completed Bayard's work, allowing the théâtre des Variétés to regain its forgotten splendours.
Bayard also published articles in several literary journals, and poems and verse dramas in several anthologies.
Louis Hachette published Bayard's ''Théâtre choisi'', en 12 volumes, in-12, 1855–1858.
In 1837 Bayard was named a member of the
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
.
Selected works
* ''La Belle-mère'' ;
* ''Christine ou la Reine de seize ans'' ;
* ''Les Fées de Paris'' ;
* ''Marie Mignot'' ;
* ''Les Enfants de troupe'' ;
* ''Les Premières armes de Richelieu'' ;
* ''La Manie des places'' ;
* ''La Fille de l’avare'' ;
* ''Mathilde ou la jalousie'' ;
* ''Le Gamin de Paris'' ;
* ''La Foire aux places'', ''comédie-vaudeville'' in one act ;.
* ''Roman à vendre'' ;
* ''Un ménage parisien'' ;
* ''Un château de cartes'', verse comedies ;
* ''Le Mari à la campagne'', his main work;
* ''La niaise de Saint-Flour'', ''comédie-vaudeville'' in one act, by also Gustave Lemoine, 19 juin 1848 -
Théâtre du Gymnase.
La niaise de Saint-Flour By Bayard et G. Lemoine _ HathiTrust
/ref>
Notes
References
*Gustave Vapereau
Louis Gustave Vapereau (4 April 1819 – 18 April 1906) was a French writer and lexicographer famous primarily for his dictionaries, the ''Dictionnaire universel des contemporains'' and the ''Dictionnaire universel des littérateurs''.
Biography ...
, ''Dictionnaire universel des littératures'', Paris, Hachette, 1876, p. 687.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayard, Jean-Francois
1796 births
1853 deaths
19th-century French dramatists and playwrights
French opera librettists
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
People from Charolles
19th-century French male writers