Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter
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Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter was a French
librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...
, translator, writer and librarian born in Paris, France, on 24 April 1828. He died there on 23 February 1899 after suffering a stroke a few days before.Cooper J: Nuitter, Charles-Louis-Étienne. In ''New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.


Librettist and translator

Nuitter studied law and practised in Paris from 1849. He was a keen theatre-goer, and in the 1850s he started writing librettos, mainly vaudevilles, later opéras comique, operas bouffes,
operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
s and ballets. It is estimated that he wrote or co-authored around 500 theatrical pieces, including libretti for several works by Offenbach, the scenario for
Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (b ...
's ballet ''
Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...
'' (Nuitter had wanted the piece to be called ''La poupée de Nuremberg'') and pieces by
Hervé Hervé is a French language, French masculine given name of Breton language, Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinizat ...
,
Guiraud Guiraud (1070–1123) was a bishop of Béziers of the twelfth century He is said to have been the second prior of the Canon Regular community at Cassan Abbey. He served as bishop from 1121 to November 5, 1123. He is a Catholic saint.http://pag ...
, Lalo, Lecocq and others, of which 100 or so were staged.Gressel V. ''Charles Nuitter : des scènes parisiennes à la bibliothèque de l'Opéra.'' Website of enssibs (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences de l'Information et des Bibliothèques), accessed 28 October 2008. He helped translate
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's operas into French (''
Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...
'', 1861, ''
Rienzi ' (''Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an 1842 opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to ''Rienzi' ...
'', 1869, ''
Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...
'' 1870 and '' The Flying Dutchman'', 1872). Other translations include ''
I Capuleti e i Montecchi ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' (''The Capulets and the Montagues'') is an Italian opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of ''Romeo and Juliet'' for an opera by Nicol ...
'', ''
Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...
'', ''
Abu Hassan ''Abu Hassan'' ( J. 106) is a comic opera in one act by Carl Maria von Weber to a German libretto by , based on a story in ''One Thousand and One Nights''. It was composed between 11 August 1810 and 12 January 1811 and has set numbers with recita ...
'', ''
Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...
'', and
Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 â€“ 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...
's ''
Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'', ''
Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...
'', '' La forza del destino'' and ''
Simon Boccanegra ''Simon Boccanegra'' () is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play ''Simón Bocanegra'' (1843) by Antonio García Gutiérrez, whose play ''El trovador'' had bee ...
''. Wagner and Verdi esteemed highly the quality of his translations, and he assisted Verdi over the revision of ''
Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play '' Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...
'' in 1882–83. From a different era, Nuitter's translation of ''La Prière du matin et du soir'' by
Emilio de' Cavalieri Emilio de' Cavalieri (c. 155011 March 1602), or Emilio dei Cavalieri (the spellings "del" and "Cavaliere" are contemporary typographical errors), was an Italian composer, producer, organist, diplomat, choreographer and dancer at the end of t ...
(1600) was performed regularly at the Concerts du Conservatoire during the 1870s–80s and beyond.


Archivist

Becoming involved in the archives of the Paris Opera in 1863, he became official archivist there three years later, and ended his career in law (he had given legal advice to Offenbach in a dispute with the manager of the
Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens () is a Parisian theatre founded in 1855 by the 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 ...
prior to the 1864 premiere of ''
La belle Hélène ''La belle Hélène'' (, ''The Beautiful Helen'') is an opéra bouffe in three acts, with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The piece parodies the story of Helen of Troy's elopement with Paris (mythology ...
''). His archival work was extremely important in cataloguing the existing library, rescuing documents from destruction, and acquiring autograph documents and journals (sometimes at his own expense) for the collection. Acquisitions by Nuitter included an important collection of theatre books by Joseph de Filippi and around 900 opera librettos from a former director of the théâtre,
Nestor Roqueplan Louis-Victor-Nestor Roqueplan lso sometimes spelled Rocoplan(16 September 1805 – 24 April 1870) was a French writer, journalist, and theatre director. Early life and career Nestor Roqueplan was born near Montréal, Aude, and was th ...
. His influence on the expansion of the archive was impressive. In 1861, there were 350 volumes; by the end of 1862 there were 1,076, and in 1882 the collection had grown to 7,807. He ensured that their importance was taken into account when the
Palais Garnier The (, Garnier Palace), also known as (, Garnier Opera), is a historic 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the ...
opened in 1875.


Selected stage works by Nuitter (often in collaboration)

*'' Bavard et Bavarde'' (1862, Offenbach) *''
Il signor Fagotto ''Il signor Fagotto'' is a one-act opérette by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter and Étienne Tréfeu, first performed in 1863. The story of a father outwitted and true love winning is set within "a burl ...
'' (1863, Offenbach) *'' Les bavards'' (1863, Offenbach) *'' Les fées du Rhin'' (1864, Offenbach) *''Une fantasia'' (1865, Hervé) *'' La source'' (1866, Delibes and
Minkus Minkus may refer to: People * Christian Minkus (1770–1849), German politician; * Ludwig Minkus, Ludwig (Leon) Minkus (1826-1917), Austrian ballet composer and violinist, best known for his work in Russia; * Jacques Minkus (1901-1996), philate ...
– ballet) *''Vert-Vert'' (1869, Offenbach) *''
Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...
'' (1870, Delibes – ballet) *''
Boule-de-Neige ''Boule-de-Neige'' is an opéra bouffe in three acts premiered in 1871 with music composed by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by Charles Nuitter and Étienne Tréfeu, adapted from that by Eugène Scribe and Henry Boisseaux for Offenbach's ...
'' (1871, Offenbach) *'' Whittington'' (1874, Offenbach) *'' Maître Péronilla'' (1878, Offenbach) *''Le coeur et la main'' (1882, Lecocq) *Hellé (1896, Duvernoy)''The New York Times'' review, May 17, 1896
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References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuitter, Charles-Louis-Etienne 1828 births 1899 deaths French opera librettists French librarians French ballet librettists German–French translators Writers from Paris 19th-century French translators 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights