Giacomo Meyerbeer Suggest updates
Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer.
Born Vogelsdorf, 5 September 1791.
Died Paris, 2 May 1864.
German, naturalised French, composer.
For much of the twentieth century, Meyerbeer's reputation was in the doldrums, but it has recently shown signs of a distinct revival. He spent most of his career in Paris, as a hugely successful composer of a handful of grand operas - Robert le Diable, Les Huguenots, Le Prophète and L'Africaine. Growing up in Berlin as a member of a wealthy family, he spent nine years in Italy composing increasingly successful operas in a style somewhat indebted to Rossini - though Emma from Roxburgh does not yet seem to have been successfully revived. On moving to Paris, he began work on a series of works for the Opéra. He also spent several years as director of the opera in Berlin. During Meyerbeer's Paris years he also composed in a lighter vein, and both Dinorah and L'êtoile du nord were successful in the nineteenth century, though they have rarely been revived in recent years.
Operas performed in Scotland are shown in bold:-
01 Abu Hassan (1810 unfin) ()
02 Der Admiral, oder Der verlorene Prozess (1810 unfin) ()
03 Der Fischer und das Milchmadchen (Berlin 1810) (Lauchery)
04 Jephtas Gelubde (Munich 1812) (Schweiber)
05 Wirth und Gast, oder Aus Scherz Ernst (Stuttgart 1813) (Wohlbruck)
06 Das Brandenburger Tor (1814 unperf) (Veith)
07 Le Bachelier de Salamanque (1815 unfin) ()
08 L'Etudiant de Strasbourg (1815 unfin) ()
09 Romilda e Costanza (Padua 1817) (Rossi)
10 Thevelindens Liebe (Munich 1817) ()
11 Semiramide riconosciuta (Turin 1819) (Rossi)
12 Emma di Resburgo (Venice 1819) (Rossi)
13 Margherita d'Anjou (Milan 1820) (Romani)
14 L’Almanzore (1821) ()
15 L'esule di Granata (Milan 1822) (Romani)
16 Il crociato in Egitto (Venice 1824) (Rossi)
17 Robert le Diable (Paris 1831) (Scribe & Delavigne)
18 Les Huguenots (Paris 1836) (Scribe)
19 Das Hoffest von Ferrara (Berlin 1843) ()
20 Ein Feldlager in Schlesien (Berlin 1844, rev as ‘Vielka’ 1847) (Rellstab)
21 Noëma (1849 unfin) (Scribe & Saint Georges)
22 Le Prophète (Paris 1849) (Scribe)
23 L'Etoile du Nord (Paris 1854) (Scribe)
24 Dinorah, ou Le Pardon de Plöermel (Paris 1859) (Barbier & Carre)
25 L'africaine (Paris 1865) (Scribe) 1
