Élie Cohen (conductor)
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Élie Cohen, born in
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
in 1886, was a conductor, principally active in the field of opera in France during the inter-war years, and made many recordings."Élie Cohen – chef d’orchestre"
Les archives de l'Opéra Comique. Accessed 22 February 2021.


Career

Cohen made his debut at the
Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...
on 7 August 1922 with '' Lakmé'' and continued to conduct there up to 1940. He also conducted premieres and new productions of ''A Quoi Rêvent les Jeunes Filles'' (Fraggi), ''
Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...
'', ''Printemps Fleuri'' (ballet, music Tchaikovsky), ''Reflets'' (ballet, music Schmitt), ''Le Chemineau'', ''
Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Puccin ...
'', ''Masques et Bergamasques'' (Leroux), and ''La Peau de chagrin'' (Levadé).Wolff, Stéphane. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique 1900–1950.'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953, p. 335. Cohen conducted the Opéra de Nice from at least the 1936/1937 season, an example of which was an all-
Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
opera and ballet evening in 1937. His appointment there was warmly welcomed by both public and critics. Outside France, he conducted ''Lakmé'' in Geneva in 1934, with
Vina Bovy Vina Bovy (Malvina Bovi Van Overberghe) born in Ghent on 22 May 1900, died in the same city on 16 May 1983 was a Belgian operatic soprano.Harold Rosenthal, Rosenthal H., "Vina Bovy". In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London & Ne ...
in the title role. He was listed as an assistant conductor of the Orchestre Radio-symphonique-lyrique which, along with many other musicians, was evacuated to
Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
in September 1939, just after the opening of hostilities in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Cohen was a regular conductor of French opera for Columbia in the 1920s and 30s.
Alan Blyth Geoffrey Alan Blyth (27 July 1929 – 14 August 2007) was an English music critic, author, and musicologist who was particularly known for his writings within the field of opera. He was a specialist on singers and singing. Born in London, Blyth ...
. Record review – ''Carmen'' (extracts), Bizet. ''
Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
'', February 2007, pp. 228–229.
Notable among Cohen's recordings are complete versions of ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'' (1928, missing the dialogue and act 1 finale; the Flower Song is conducted by Gaubert), ''
Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...
'' (1932), and ''
Werther ''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...
'' (1931), where his achievement of "unforced, eloquently expressive, forwardly-placed French word-singing" has been much praised.Loppert, Max. Review of ''Werther'' at the Royal Opera House. ''Opera'', November 2004, vol. 55, no. 11, pp. 1293–1294. He also directed the accompaniment to recorded operatic excerpts sung by French singers of the period, as well as some '' Songs of the Auvergne'', with Madeleine Grey.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Elie 1886 births Year of death missing French male conductors (music) 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male musicians