Louis-Auguste Florimond Ronger (30 June 1825 – 4 November 1892),[1] who used the pseudonym Hervé (French pronunciation:[ɛʁve]), was a French singer, composer, librettist, conductor and scene painter, whom Ernest Newman, following Reynaldo Hahn, credited with inventing the genre of operetta in Paris.[2]
Hervé was born in Houdain near Arras. Part Spanish by birth, he became a choirboy at the Church of Saint-Roch, Paris. His musical promise was noted, and he was enrolled in the Conservatoire and studied with Daniel Auber, and by the age of fifteen was serving as organist at Bicêtre Hospital and a stage vocalist in provincial theatres, where he trained his fine tenor voice. He won a competition in 1845 for the prestigious Paris post of organist at the Church of Saint-Eustache, while he doubled with his theatrical music career, a situation that he turned to advantage years later, in his most famous work, Mam'zelle Nitouche.
Before he became musical director of the Théâtre du Palais Royal in 1851, he composed a one-act tableau grotesque, a burlesque on Don Quixote titled Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança. It was conceived as a vehicle for the actor Desiré, who was short and plump, accompanied by the tall and gangling Hervé, as he was now calling himself, in order to distance his two personas. It was staged at Adolphe Adam's Opéra-National, and achieved a great success in 1848, in spite of the distracting revolution: furthermore, according to the composer Reynaldo Hahn, the farcical pot-pourri was "simply the first French operetta".[3] He had also composed musical entertainments to keep the patients entertained at the Bicêtre Hospital, and these gained the notice of producers.[4]
Thus, Hervé was the founder of a new era of French operettas. Through his Folies-Concertantes, a small theater stage he took over in 1854 and for which he wrote many works, he became the forerunner of the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens of Jacques Offenbach, whose early efforts he produced at his theatre, renovated as the Folies-Nouvelles. Many of Hervé's early one act pieces are topical skits satirizing current events and were never revived. The restrictive license of the Folies-Concertantes permitted only spectacles-concerts, with no more than two characters, in a single act, stringencies imposed on Offenbach as well, but which encouraged Hervé to experiment with genres, before more flexible rules were established in the following decade. A jealous rivalry soon developed between Hervé and Offenbach, which was only patched up in 1878, when Hervé sang in a revival of Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers.
He died in Paris at the age of 67.
Since 2015, a number of his works have been revived by Palazzetto Bru Zane in tours of France and Italy.[5]
Hervé
Worksedit
Hervé wrote more than a hundred and twenty operettas,[6] among which were:
Les folies dramatiques (1853), with two other librettists, which parodied all the forms of entertainment in Paris, comedy, tragedy, vaudeville, ballet and opera.
^This article incorporates material translated from its German Wikipedia equivalent and is supplemented by the account of Hervé's career in Richard Traubner, Operetta: A Theatrical History 2003:20ff
^Ernest Newman, in Louis Biancolli, ed. The Opera Reader (New York: McGraw-Hill) 1953:317.
^Quoted with reservations, for the term had already been used, by Traubner 2003:20.
^Lubbock, Mark. "The Music of 'Musicals'". The Musical Times, Vol. 98, No. 1375 (September, 1957), pp. 483–85, Musical Times Publications Ltd., accessed 17 August 2010
^"Palazzetto Bru Zane: "Let's Talk About Hervé!"". Operetta Research Center. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
^Richard Traubner, Operetta: A Theatrical History 2003:22. It was produced in New York in 1868, at J. Grau's Theatre Français, as The Pierced Eye and its libretto published. It was a success too in Vienna and in London.
List of works by Hervé at the Index to Opera and Ballet Sources Online
January 02, 2024
hervé, composer, louis, auguste, florimond, ronger, june, 1825, november, 1892, used, pseudonym, hervé, french, pronunciation, ɛʁve, french, singer, composer, librettist, conductor, scene, painter, whom, ernest, newman, following, reynaldo, hahn, credited, wit. Louis Auguste Florimond Ronger 30 June 1825 4 November 1892 1 who used the pseudonym Herve French pronunciation ɛʁve was a French singer composer librettist conductor and scene painter whom Ernest Newman following Reynaldo Hahn credited with inventing the genre of operetta in Paris 2 A woodburytype of Herve Contents 1 Life 2 Works 3 References 4 External linksLife editHerve was born in Houdain near Arras Part Spanish by birth he became a choirboy at the Church of Saint Roch Paris His musical promise was noted and he was enrolled in the Conservatoire and studied with Daniel Auber and by the age of fifteen was serving as organist at Bicetre Hospital and a stage vocalist in provincial theatres where he trained his fine tenor voice He won a competition in 1845 for the prestigious Paris post of organist at the Church of Saint Eustache while he doubled with his theatrical music career a situation that he turned to advantage years later in his most famous work Mam zelle Nitouche Before he became musical director of the Theatre du Palais Royal in 1851 he composed a one act tableau grotesque a burlesque on Don Quixote titled Don Quichotte et Sancho Panca It was conceived as a vehicle for the actor Desire who was short and plump accompanied by the tall and gangling Herve as he was now calling himself in order to distance his two personas It was staged at Adolphe Adam s Opera National and achieved a great success in 1848 in spite of the distracting revolution furthermore according to the composer Reynaldo Hahn the farcical pot pourri was simply the first French operetta 3 He had also composed musical entertainments to keep the patients entertained at the Bicetre Hospital and these gained the notice of producers 4 Thus Herve was the founder of a new era of French operettas Through his Folies Concertantes a small theater stage he took over in 1854 and for which he wrote many works he became the forerunner of the Theatre des Bouffes Parisiens of Jacques Offenbach whose early efforts he produced at his theatre renovated as the Folies Nouvelles Many of Herve s early one act pieces are topical skits satirizing current events and were never revived The restrictive license of the Folies Concertantes permitted only spectacles concerts with no more than two characters in a single act stringencies imposed on Offenbach as well but which encouraged Herve to experiment with genres before more flexible rules were established in the following decade A jealous rivalry soon developed between Herve and Offenbach which was only patched up in 1878 when Herve sang in a revival of Offenbach s Orphee aux enfers He died in Paris at the age of 67 Since 2015 a number of his works have been revived by Palazzetto Bru Zane in tours of France and Italy 5 nbsp HerveWorks editHerve wrote more than a hundred and twenty operettas 6 among which were Les folies dramatiques 1853 with two other librettists which parodied all the forms of entertainment in Paris comedy tragedy vaudeville ballet and opera Les chevaliers de la Table Ronde Bouffes Parisiens 17 November 1866 L œil creve Folies Dramatiques 12 October 1867 7 Chilperic 1868 Le petit Faust 1869 8 Les Turcs 1869 Le trone d Ecosse 1871 La veuve du Malabar 1873 La belle poule 1875 La roussotte with Charles Lecocq and Marius Boullard Theatre des Varietes 1881 Lili 1882 Mam zelle Nitouche 1883 References edit This article incorporates material translated from its German Wikipedia equivalent and is supplemented by the account of Herve s career in Richard Traubner Operetta A Theatrical History 2003 20ff Ernest Newman in Louis Biancolli ed The Opera Reader New York McGraw Hill 1953 317 Quoted with reservations for the term had already been used by Traubner 2003 20 Lubbock Mark The Music of Musicals The Musical Times Vol 98 No 1375 September 1957 pp 483 85 Musical Times Publications Ltd accessed 17 August 2010 Palazzetto Bru Zane Let s Talk About Herve Operetta Research Center 2 February 2016 Retrieved 12 January 2019 Taubner 2003 Richard Traubner Operetta A Theatrical History 2003 22 It was produced in New York in 1868 at J Grau s Theatre Francais as The Pierced Eye and its libretto published It was a success too in Vienna and in London Information about Little Faust on BroadwayExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Herve composer Herve at IMDb Free scores by Herve at the International Music Score Library Project IMSLP List of works by Herve at the Index to Opera and Ballet Sources Online Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Herve composer amp oldid 1176672094, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
