Albert Carré (before 1938) - Archivio Storico Ricordi FOTO001068

Albert Carré (born Strasbourg 22 June 1852, died Paris 12 December 1938) was a French

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

opera 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 libre ...

director,

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

and librettist. He was the nephew of librettist Michel Carré (1821–1872) and cousin of cinema director Michel Carré (1865–1945). His wife was the French soprano

Marguerite Carré Marguerite Carré (''née'' Giraud, also known as Marguerite Giraud-Carré) (16 August 1880 – 26 November 1947) was a French soprano who created numerous roles at the Paris Opéra-Comique in the course of her career. She was born in Cabourg, F ...

(1880–1947). For over 50 years Albert Carré was a central personality in the theatrical and musical life of Paris.

Life and work

Leaving Alsace for Paris in 1870, Carré studied drama at the

Paris Conservatoire 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 ...

, winning a 2nd prize in comedy, and was engaged at the Théâtre du Vaudeville, leading to a successful career as an actor, before becoming co-director of the Vaudeville in Paris and later the Théâtre-Libre and the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real ...

.Langham Smith R. "Albert Carré". In: ''

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. He left the Vaudeville to become director of the Opéra in Nancy, where he also helped institute a regular season of symphony concerts in the Salle Poirel from 1889. Carré's main contribution to operatic history was made as director of the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienn ...

, a post he held from 1898 to 1914 and then again from 1919 to 1925 (co-director with Émile and

Vincent Isola Vincent Isola (24 July 1862 in Blida, Algeria – 31 August 1947 in Paris) was a French theatre director. Along with his older brother Émile Isola with whose life and career he was closely involved, he was a conjurer and theatre director in P ...

). He worked to raise the musical standards of the

and was responsible for the premieres of major operas by French composers, commissioning

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

's '' Pelléas et Mélisande'',

Gustave Charpentier Gustave Charpentier (; 25 June 1860 – 18 February 1956) was a French composer, best known for his opera '' Louise''.Langham Smith R., "Gustave Charpentier", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Life and ...

's '' Louise'' and Dukas's '' Ariane et Barbe-bleue'', and works by

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas b ...

Alfred Bruneau Louis Charles Bonaventure Alfred Bruneau (3 March 1857 – 15 June 1934) was a French composer who played a key role in the introduction of realism in French opera. Life Born in Paris, Bruneau studied the cello as a youth at the Paris Conservator ...

and Georges Hüe. Carré was more progressive musically than his predecessor Carvalho, from whom he took over in 1898. He had written a report for government on the management of opera houses in Germany and approached his position at the Opéra-Comique with reforming zeal, introducing many modern practices.

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage works, among whi ...

, (a lifelong friend and collaborator on his most important projects) became the 'directeur de la musique' with expanded responsibilities, allowing him an important role in deciding the works to be performed and singers to be hired. He instituted a more rigorous rehearsal schedule and absentee policy. Carré also created subscription series in which subscribers were guaranteed that works would not be repeated in the same season. In 1899 he inaugurated a 'family series', at a lower cost and concentrating on older works from the repertory. His contract stipulated that he keep in the repertory works of composers who had created the opéra-comique genre, and also that he could not foist the older repertory on secondary artists. He produced the first French performances of several Italian operas, including ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dr ...

'' (13 October 1903) and ''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John L ...

'' (28 December 1906), and mounted many other important new productions, including ''

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 Opér ...

'' (8 December 1898). He was responsible for a new production of '' Le roi malgré lui'' in 1929 which helped to bring the piece back to the stage. He wrote vaudevilles, comedies, and opéra-comique libretti, sometimes with Alexandre Bisson (1848–1912). He retired in 1936 and wrote his memoirs. Before and during the First World War, Carré also worked for the 'Deuxième Bureau'. This was part of the

intelligence service An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informati ...

of the French army and was involved in recruiting Alsatians to the French army when the region was still part of Germany.From Albert Carré, ''Les engagés volontaires alsaciens-lorrains pendant la guerre'', Flammarion, 1923, p24
quoted in article ''L’Académie de Réchésy'' by Gisèle Loth

Works

* '' La Basoche'', opéra-comique in 3 acts, music by

, (Opéra-comique, 30 May 1890) * ''Faust en ménage'', fantaisie lyrique in one act, music by Claude Terrasse, (Théâtre de la Potinière, 5 January 1924) * ''La montagne enchantée'', pièce fantastique by Émile Moreau and Carré, music by André Messager and Xavier Leroux, 1897 * ''Frétillon'', opéra-comique in 3 acts and 4 tableaux with songs by Béranger and book by Albert Carré. (Théâtre municipal de Strasbourg, 5 March 1927) * ''Le roi bossu'', opéra-comique in one act 17 March 1932. Music by Elsa Barraine

Non-theatre works

* Les théâtres en Allemagne et en Autriche, 1889 * Les engagés volontaires alsaciens-lorrains pendant la guerre, Flammarion, 1923 * L'Opéra-Comique connu et inconnu, 1925 * Souvenirs de théâtre, Plon, 1950 * .

References

External links

Albert Carré
on data.bnf.fr
Albert Carré
on Cinderella stamp {{DEFAULTSORT:Carre, Albert French opera librettists French opera directors Opera managers French male stage actors Conservatoire de Paris alumni Administrators of the Comédie-Française 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Members of the Ligue de la patrie française Writers from Strasbourg 1852 births 1938 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Actors from Strasbourg