Léopold de Wenzel (23 January 1847 – 21 August 1923), also known as Leopold Wenzel, was an Italian conductor and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Wenzel spent most of his career working in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, with the exception of some years spent in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Wenzel was appointed as musical director, music arranger and ballet composer at the

Empire Theatre of Varieties The Empire, Leicester Square is a cinema currently operated by Cineworld on the north side of Leicester Square, London. The Empire was originally built in 1884 as a variety theatre and was rebuilt for films in the 1920s. It is one of several ci ...

in 1889, where he wrote and arranged numerous

ballets Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. Later, he conducted at the

Gaiety Theatre, London The Gaiety Theatre was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was first established as the Strand Musick Hall in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. In 1868, it became known a ...

until 1913. In addition to ballets, his many works include art songs, orchestral works, and

operas 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 libretti ...

in the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

and early

Edwardian period The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

. He also composed songs that were incorporated into some works of

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

. He died in Asnières, near Paris.

Selected works

Ballets with choreographer

Katti Lanner Katti Lanner (14 September 1829 – 15 November 1908) was a Viennese ballet dancer, choreographer, and ballet mistress who found fame in Germany and England, where she staged many productions at the Empire Theatre in London. Early life in Aus ...

at the EmpireGuest, "Appendix A: Ballets Produced at the Empire Theatre, 1884-1915"
/ref> *''A Dream of Wealth'' (1889) *''Cécile'' (1890) *''Dolly'' (1890) *''Orfeo'' (1891)Guest, "Appendix C: Some Empire Ballets: Selected Scenarios"
/ref> *''By the Sea'' (1891) *''Nisita'' (1891) *''Versailles'' (1892) *''Round the Town'' (1892) *''Katrina'' (1893) *''The Girl I Left Behind Me'' (1893) *''Brighton'' (

Paris Olympia The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra G ...

music hall) *''Monte Cristo'' (1896) *''Under One Flag'' (1897) *''The Press'' (1898) *''Alaska'' (1898) *''Round the Town Again''6 (1899) *''Sea-Side'' (1900) *''Les Papillons'' (1901) *''Old China'' (1901) *''Our Crown'' (1902) *''The Milliner Duchess'' (1903) *''Vineland'' (1903) *''High Jinks'' (1904) ;Operas *''Le Chevalier Mignon'' (1884,

) *''L'Élève du Conservatoire'' (1894, Paris) ;Other Works *''

Cinder Ellen up too late ''Cinder Ellen up too Late'' is a musical Victorian burlesque, burlesque written by Frederick Hobson Leslie (writing under the pseudonym A. C. Torr) and W. T. Vincent, with music arranged by Meyer Lutz from compositions by Lionel Monckton, Sidney ...

'' (1891), a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

on the

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' (additional numbers) *''

An Artist's Model ''An Artist's Model'' is a two-act musical by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and music by Sidney Jones, with additional songs by Joseph and Mary Watson, Paul Lincke, Frederick Ross, Henry Hamilton and Leopold Wenzel. It opened at Dal ...

'', an

Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...

(1895) (additional numbers)Johnson, Colin, M
Links to Midi files for songs in ''An Artist's Model'', including the songs composed by Wenzel
The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 31 March 2018

Notes

References

*Guest, Ivor. ''The Empire Ballet'' (1962) London:Society for Theatre Research 1847 births 1923 deaths Italian opera composers Male opera composers Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers English classical composers 19th-century Italian musicians 19th-century Italian male musicians {{italy-composer-stub