Robert Alfred Simon (1897 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

– 27 April 1981 in New York City) was an American writer, translator, and music critic for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' from its first issue in 1925 until 1948. A graduate of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, in addition to his original fiction he wrote opera and musical comedy

libretto 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 theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

s for several composers. In 1927 he penned a widely praised English translation of Gounod's ''Faust'' as well as new librettos for ''Carmen'' and ''The Abduction From the Seraglio'' for

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Розинг) (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United ...

American Opera Company The American Opera Company was the name of four different opera companies active in the United States. The first company was a short-lived opera company founded in New York City in February, 1886 that lasted only one season. The second company grew ...

. His writing varied in subject from social criticism (''Our Little Girl'') to detective fiction (''The Weekend Mystery'') to the satire of artists and musicians (''Sweet & Low'', published under the pseudonym Liggett Reynolds).

Selected works

Books

* ''Our Little Girl'' (1923) * ''The Week-end Mystery'' (1926) * ''Sweet & Low: A Smashing Indictment of the Younger Generation'' (1926) * ''Bronx Ballads'' (1927) ditor* ''The Pamphlet Poets: The New York Wits" (1927) ditor

Translations

* ''Fräulein Else'' (1926) by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. Biography Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarchy ...

* ''Faust'' (1927) by

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

, opera libretto by

Jules Barbier Paul Jules Barbier (8 March 182516 January 1901) was a French poet, writer and opera librettist who often wrote in collaboration with Michel Carré. He was a noted Parisian bon vivant and man of letters.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 ...

. * ''The Abduction for the Seraglio'' (1928) by

Gottlieb Stephanie Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger (19 February 1741 – 23 January 1800) was an Austrian playwright, director and librettist, most famously to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart. Stephanie was born in Breslau, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia. He wa ...

. * ''Carmen'' (1928) by

Henri Meilhac Henri Meilhac (23 February 1830 – 6 July 1897) was a French dramatist and opera librettist, best known for his collaborations with Ludovic Halévy on Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach, as well as Jules Massenet's ...

and

Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French author and playwright, best known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach. Biography Ludovic Halévy was born in P ...

. Translated in collaboration with poet Helene Mullins."American Opera Company Gives Carmen", ''Musical Courier'', Feb 23, 1928.

Librettos

* ''The Swordsman'' (1927) musical play based on ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'' by

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where ''Suffix (name)#Generational titles, '' is French language, French for 'father', to distinguish him from ...

composed by Louis E. Gensler * ''Maria Malibran'' (1935) opera composed by

Robert Russell Bennett Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, ...

* ''Garick'' (1937) opera composed by

Albert Stoessel Albert Frederic Stoessel (October 11, 1894 – May 12, 1943) was an American composer, violinist and conductor. Biography He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1894. He studied music at the Berlin Hochschule as a pupil of Emanuel Wirth and W ...

* ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1937) opera composed by

Vittorio Giannini Vittorio Giannini (October 19, 1903 – November 28, 1966) was an American neoromantic composer of operas, songs, symphonies, and band works. Life and work Giannini was born in Philadelphia on October 19, 1903. He began as a violinist under the t ...

* ''Rehearsal Call'' (1962) opera composed by Vittorio Giannini * ''Count Ory: a comic opera in two acts'' (1963) composed by Vittorio Giannini

References

Sources

*''

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''
Obituary: Robert Simon, Writer, Librettist And New Yorker Music Critic, 84
28 April 1981 1897 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American music critics German–English translators 20th-century American translators 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers {{US-translator-stub