Frédéric Adam (4 January 1904 – 7 September 1984) was a French conductor, composer and administrator.Pitt C. Frédéric Adam. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.

Career

Born in Hinsbourg,

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, Adam studied in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and Paris. He became a

répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

at the opera house in Strasbourg in 1933, remaining there until his retirement in 1972, including periods as co-director from 1955 to 1960 and director from 1960 to 1972. Adam mounted the first productions in France of several notable operas including: ''

Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. Composed between 1914 and 1922, it premiered in 1925. It is based on the drama '' Woyzeck'', which German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at his death. Berg attende ...

'' (1959), ''

Il prigioniero ''Il prigioniero'' (''The Prisoner'') is an opera (originally a radio opera) in a prologue and one act, with music and libretto by Luigi Dallapiccola. The opera was first broadcast by the Italian radio station RAI on 1 December 1949. The work is ba ...

'' (1961), ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' and ''

Die Frau ohne Schatten ' (''The Woman without a Shadow''), Op. 65, is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917. When it premiered at the V ...

'' (1965). His compositions include ballets, symphonies and two operas, ''Judith'' (1948, Strasbourg) and ''Le Voyage vers l'étoile'' (1954, Strasbourg). He died in

Illkirch-Graffenstaden Illkirch-Graffenstaden () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Strasbourg, and is adjacent to it on the south-southwest. Illkirch-Graffenstaden's population ...

References

1904 births 1984 deaths 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male composers French male conductors (music) Music directors (opera) Musicians from Bas-Rhin {{opera-bio-stub