Victor Rifaut (11 January 1799 – 2 March 1838) was a French musician of the first half of the 19th century specialising in opéra comique. A composer of the second order, he rubbed shoulders with masters of the genre such as Auber and

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 po ...

and often collaborated with them.

Life

Rifaut was born in Paris: his father, Pierre Rifaut,

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

at the Orchestre de l'Opéra, gave him his first music lessons before he entered the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

at the age of 13 in 1811. There he studied solfeggio and piano, then harmony and composition, and obtained a First Prize for harmony in 1814. In 1820, competing for the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

, he obtained a Second Grand Prize for composition with the cantata ''Sophinibe''. The following year, at the same competition, he won the first prize with the cantata ''Diane et Endymion''. He stayed at the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, ...

in Rome from 20 December 1821 to 31 December 1823, travelling to Naples, Germany and Austria. He befriended the painter

Joseph-Désiré Court Joseph-Désiré Court (14 September 1797, Rouen – 23 January 1865, Paris) was a French painter of historical subjects and portraits. Life and work He was a descendant of the portrait painter, Hyacinthe Rigaud, and displayed an early interest i ...

(1797–1865), also a winner of the Prix de Rome, who in 1822 painted a portrait of Rifaut sitting at his work table in front of an open window on a landscape of the city of Rome. This painting is still kept in the

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen is an art museum in Rouen, in Normandy in north-western France. It was established by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801, and is housed in a building designed by and built between 1877 and 1888. Its collections include ...

. On his return to Paris in 1824, he resumed his job as accompanist at the Théâtre of the Opéra-Comique before being appointed head of singing and pianist répétiteur there two years later. In 1833, after the departure of

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 ...

, he was invited to take the "harmony and practical accompaniment class for women at the Conservatoire de Paris", and held this position until his untimely death by illness on 2 March 1838. He died in Orléans where he had retired with his family the previous year. On 30 August 1826, he had married Jeanne-Emélie Belloste in Paris, a singer at the Opéra-Comique known as Mme Rifaut. Mother of two children and widow at thirty, she remarried and died in 1881.

Work

Rifaut composed a number of works for the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique between 1826 and 1837, but none was really successful and they remained forgotten. The most accomplished ("Graceful and light but wise music" writes the '; "A rather pretty little act" writes a critic of ''L'Artiste: journal de la littérature et des beaux-arts'') seems to have been ''André, ou La Sentinelle perdue'', a one-act play with a libretto by Saint-Georges, performed at the Opéra-Comique on 9 December 1834, with his wife in one of the female roles. Rifaut's musical activity is mainly notable for his role as arranger for Opéra comique works composed by Fromental Halévy ('' Le Roi et le batelier'',

one act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

on a libretto by Saint-Georges, 1827), Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (''La Fiancée'' in 1829, ''Le Dieu et la bayadère'' in 1830, ''Le Philtre'' in 1831, ''Gustave, ou Le Bal masqué'' in 1833) and

(''Danilowa'', 3 acts, in 1830, ''Le Chalet'' in 1834, ''Les Chaperons blancs'' in 1836).Liste complète et article de Denis Havard de la Montagne
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rifaut, Victor 1799 births 1838 deaths 19th-century classical composers Conservatoire de Paris alumni French male classical composers French opera composers Musicians from Paris Prix de Rome for composition 19th-century French male musicians