Gustave Cloëz (3 August 1890 – 15 March 1970)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''.

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...

. was a French conductor who was particularly active at the Paris Opéra-Comique in the mid-20th century, and made a significant number of recordings, often accompanying major singers of the time.CHARM - The house conductor: Gustave Cloez
accessed 22 November 2013.

Life and career

Cloëz was born in Cuincy to Henri Cloëz and Nellie Lecomte. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, with Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot and Lazare Lévy (piano). Cloëz made his conducting debut at the Paris Opéra-Comique with '' Manon'' on 1 August 1922 and continued at the theatre for 25 years. Premieres at the Salle Favart conducted by him include ''le Fou de la Dame'' (1930 world premiere, music by Delannoy), ''Rayon de Soieries'' (1930 world premiere, Rosenthal), ''Mon Ami Pierrot'' (1935 world premiere, Barlow), '' Le Couronnement de Poppée'', ''Zadig'' (1938 world premiere, Jean Dupérier), '' Mesdames de la Halle'', ''Mon oncle Benjamin'' (1942 world premiere, Francis Bousquet), and '' le Directeur de Théâtre''. He was also in charge of revivals of ''Angélique'', ''La Basoche'', ''Le Roi Dagobert'', ''

Djamileh ''Djamileh'' is an ''opéra comique'' in one act by Georges Bizet to a libretto by Louis Gallet, based on an oriental tale, ''Namouna'', by Alfred de Musset. Composition history De Musset wrote ''Namouna'' in 1832, consisting of 147 verses in t ...

'', ''Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame'', ''La Lépreuse'', ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' (1932), ''Quand la cloche sonnera'' and ''Résurrection''. His first appearance conducting an opera at 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 ...

was in ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' on 1 July 1939. He was an experienced ballet conductor, and among those which he conducted at the Opéra-Comique, some of which were world premieres, were ''Deuxième Rhapsodie'' (Liszt, 1937), ''La Précaution Inutile'' (1946), ''La Bourrée Fantasque'' (1946), ''Danse du Marin'' (music from

Félicien David Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer. Biography Félicien David was born in Cadenet, and began to study music at the age of five under his father, whose death when the boy was six left him an impoverish ...

, 1946), '' Casse-Noisette'' (2nd Act, 1947), ''Concerto de Prokofiev'' (based on his third piano concerto, 1947), '' La Belle au Bois Dormant'' (divertisement, 1947), ''Khamma'' (1947), ''Roméo et Juliette'' (music by Tchaikovsky, 1947) and ''La Rose Rouge'' (1947).Wolff S. ''Un demi-siecle d'Opéra-Comique.'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. He conducted the orchestra for the Compagnie d'

Ida Rubinstein Ida Lvovna Rubinstein (; – 20 September 1960) was a dancer, actress, art patron and Belle Époque figure from the Russian Empire. She performed with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1911 and later formed her own company. ''Bolero (Rave ...

seasons at the

Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

from the late 1920s, leading the premieres of ''Les Enchantements d'Alcine'' (music by Auric, choreography by Massine), ''La Valse'' (

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 ...

, Nijinska) in 1929, ''Amphion'' ( Honegger, Massine) in 1931, and ''Diane de Poitiers'' ( Ibert, Fokine), and ''Sémiramis'' (Honegger, Fokine) in 1934. Having conducted for them in Brussels in 1947 and 1948, Cloëz worked for the International Ballet of the Marquis de Cuevas from 1955 to 1957. During 1941 to 1945 he conducted several concerts of the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, a notable event being one in aid of the war-ravaged villages of

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 ...

on 22 May 1945 at the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

(Bach, Beethoven, Respighi). He is credited with arrangements of Debussy's '' Petite Suite'', and of three movements of ''

Suite bergamasque ''Suite bergamasque'' (List of compositions by Claude Debussy by Lesure number, L. 75) () is a piano suite (music), suite by Claude Debussy. He began composing it around 1890, at the age of 28, but significantly revised it just before its 1905 ...

'' for the ballet ''L'ange gris''.

Recordings

Cloëz worked extensively for the Odéon company in the 1930s, providing accompaniments to famous singers of the time: Emma Luart, Ninon Vallin, Germaine Cernay, Charles Friant, David Devriès, Arthur Endrèze and André Pernet. He also conducted excerpts from ''

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 ...

'' with Conchita Supervia in the title role, some Spanish popular song recordings with her, and excerpts from ''Tosca'' in French with Vallin, Di Mazzei and Endrèze. He also released some early records of rare baroque music by Destouches and Mouret, with the Orchestre de la société des Concerts de Versailles and the soprano Martha Angelici (''Callirhoé'' and ''Les Fêtes de Thalie''). Radio recordings transferred to CD include André Messager's '' Béatrice'' from 1957 and the

Strauss Strauss, Strauß, or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is usually spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" most com ...

arrangement of Mozart's ''

Idomeneo (Italian for ''Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', Köchel catalogue, K. 366) is an Italian-language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Vares ...

'' from 1960. Purely orchestral records by Cloëz include 'Intermezzo' by Georges Hugon (Orchestre des Concerts Symphoniques), Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 and Hungarian Fantasy (Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion Française, Raymond Trouard), Schobert's Concerto in G for harpsichord and orchestra ( Ruggero Gerlin), Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp (with Gaston Crunelle, Pierre Jamet), the Hebrides Overture and

Danse Macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...

. Orchestral extracts from operas with the Opéra-Comique Orchestra covered Borodin '' Prince Igor'' Polovtsian Dances, Debussy L'Enfant Prodigue and Massenet ''Manon'' ballet music, as well as music by Bruneau and Wagner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cloez, Gustave 1890 births 1970 deaths Musicians from Nord (French department) French male conductors (music) 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male musicians