Eugène Bertrand (15 January 1834 – 30 December 1899) was a French comedian, theatre managing director and opera house director.

Life

Born in Paris, he made his debut in the theatre at the

Théâtre des Jeunes-Artistes The Théâtre des Jeunes-Artistes was an 18th-century Parisian entertainment venue, now defunct, inaugurated in 1790 at 52 rue de Bondy (modern rue René-Boulanger) in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. It had a capacity of 520 spectators.Wild 1 ...

then at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris. From 1859 to 1865, he was a comedian then theatre manager in the United-States. In 1865, he was hired at the Théâtre du Parc in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, before he briefly managed the two theatres in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

(northern France). He then was managing director of the

Théâtre des Variétés The Théâtre des Variétés () is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974. History The theatre owed its creation to Mademoiselle Montans ...

from 1869 to 1891. He was director of the

Opéra 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 ...

from 1 January 1892 until his death in 1899, first in association with

Campocasso Campocasso, real name Auguste Deloche, (30 September 1833 – August 1908) was a 19th-century French theatre director. After he had managed the Theatre of Lille, and then the one in Algiers in 1865 in music, 1865, this deft impresario was appo ...

, and then from 1894, with Pedro Gailhard.Les lettres reçues par lui dans ses différentes fonctions conservées aux Archives nationales sous les cotes AB XIX 4127 à 4129
Voir la notice dans la salle des inventaires virtuelle des Archives nationales
At the Opéra he was the first to successfully produce operas by

Richard 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 ...

and also mounted a new production Saint-Saëns' ''

Samson et Dalila ''Samson and Delilah'' (), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) on 2 ...

'' (1892) and gave the first performance of Massenet's ''

Thaïs Thaïs (; ; ) was a Greek who accompanied Alexander the Great on his military campaigns. Likely from Athens, she is most famous for having instigated the burning of Persepolis, the capital city of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, after it was con ...

'' (1894).Forman 2010
pp. 51–52

References

Bibliography

* Forman, Edward (2010). ''Historical Dictionary of French Theater''. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertrand, Eugene French theatre managers and producers Directors of the Paris Opera 1834 births 1899 deaths People from Paris