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Théâtre d'Orléans

October 20, 2023

The Théâtre d'Orléans (English: Orleans Theatre) was the most important opera house in New Orleans in the first half of the 19th century. The company performed in French and gave the American premieres of many French operas. It was located on Orleans Street between Royal and Bourbon. The plans for the theatre were drawn up by Louis Tabary, a refugee from the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti). Construction began in 1806, but the opening was delayed until October 1815 (after the War of 1812). After a fire, it was rebuilt (with the adjacent Orleans Ballroom) and reopened in 1819, led by another émigré from Saint-Domingue, John Davis. Davis became one of the major figures in French theatre in New Orleans. The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1866,[1][2] but the ballroom is still used.

The Théâtre d'Orléans, 1813

History of the theatre Edit

 
The Orleans Theatre and Ballroom, 1838

1819–1837: John Davis Edit

In the first five seasons under the leadership of Davis, the Théâtre d'Orléans presented 140 operas, including 52 American premieres. The repertory consisted primarily of French operas by composers such as Boieldieu, Isouard and Dalayrac.[2]

Shows could only be given from autumn through the spring, ending when the heat and humidity forced it. Unable to perform during the summer months, Davis came up with a way to continue to make money even during the summer. Beginning in 1827, Davis took the company on six tours to the northeastern United States, bringing unfamiliar repertory to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and in the process brought national recognition to the theater.[1][2][3]

The Théâtre d'Orléans soon became part of a rivalry with the Camp Street Theatre, run by James Caldwell and founded in 1824; Camp Street focused on operas performed in English.[1] In 1835, both theatres produced Meyerbeer's Robert le diable. Although Caldwell's English version (as Robert the Devil[3]) opened on March 30, ahead of Davis's French version, which finally reached the stage on May 12, the latter production was thought to be "closer to both the singing and the staging demands of the opera."[1] Later that year, the Camp Street Theatre opened a new facility, the St. Charles Theatre, and hired Montresor's company from Havana to perform Italian opera, among which were the American premieres of Vincenzo Bellini's Norma (1836), Beatrice di Tenda (1837), and I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1841), as well as Rossini's Semiramide and Donizetti's Parisina in 1837.[2]

1837–1853: Pierre Davis Edit

Davis was succeeded as director of the Théâtre d'Orléans by his son Pierre in 1837.[2]

In the 1837–38 season Mademoiselle Julie Calvé joined the company and was the leading soprano throughout the next decade. She sang Henriette in the American premiere of Halevy's L'éclair and was New Orleans' first Lucie and Anne de Boulen, its first Louise (Norina) in Don Pasquale, and Valentine in Les Huguenots. She also sang Pauline in Donizetti's Les martyrs.[4]

The theatre remained the dominant venue in New Orleans during the pre-Civil War period. Competition with Caldwell's St. Charles Theatre and his New American Theatre ended in 1842, when both were destroyed by fire.[1] With Caldwell's competition out of the way, the Théâtre d'Orléans entered a period of dominance in New Orleans' cultural life. The company again performed in the northeast United States in 1843 and 1845.[1][2]

During the spring of 1844, New Orleans was visited by the important French soprano, Laure Cinti-Damoreau. During her brief visit she was heard on two evenings as Rosine in Le Barbier de Séville.

During her two-year appointment at the theatre, Rosa de Vries-van Os sang in many well-known roles. Most memorable would be her role on 21 April 1852 as Fidès in Meyerbeer's Le Prophète. The very day after her performance she gave birth to a daughter who, took the name Fidès Devriès. Both Fidès and her sister Jeanne would become popular sopranos in their own right during their lifetimes.

1853–1859: Charles Boudousquié Edit

Pierre Davis was succeeded by the American-born Charles Boudousquié, husband of the soprano Julie Calve, in 1853. Boudousquié staged many more American premieres and featured international stars like the German soprano Henriette Sontag and the Italian Erminia Frezzolini (1818–1884). In 1859 the Théâtre d'Orléans was superseded by the French Opera House, which was built by Boudousquié after a quarrel with the owner of the Théâtre d'Orléans.[1][2]

Orleans Ballroom Edit

In 1817 John Davis engaged architect William Brand to design the Orleans Ballroom (Salle d'Orléans) next to the theatre.[5] It was the site of many subscription balls, carnival balls, and masquerades and catered to the most select of New Orleans society. For gala events the ballroom could be joined to the theatre, where temporary flooring was laid over the pit, making one enormous ballroom. The facilities also included gambling rooms, "for those unlucky at love."[6] When the noted American architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe visited in 1819, he judged it to be the best in the United States.[7] The Marquis de Lafayette was entertained here during his six-day visit in 1826.[8]

The famous New Orleans bals du cordon bleu (quadroon balls) were usually held at the Salle de Condé at the corner of Chartres and Madison streets but were also occasionally held at the Orleans Ballroom.[5] At these events wealthy, respectable Creole gentlemen would court young mixed-race women and provide them with a house in the Faubourg Tremé. Many duels were fought over these "Quadroon Mistresses".[citation needed]

The ballroom survived the 1866 fire that claimed the theatre and in 1873 was purchased by mulatto Thomy Lafon, who was named for architect Barthélemy Lafon.[9] It became a convent and school for the Sisters of the Holy Family, a religious order founded in the city – the first female-led African American religious order in the country. The old ballroom became their chapel. Once, when a sister was showing a visitor the convent, she stopped at the chapel door. "This is the old Orleans Ballroom; they say it is the best dancing floor in the world. It is made of three thicknesses of cypress. That is the balcony where the ladies and gentlemen used to promenade. Down there, on the banquette, the beaux used to fight duels."[10]

In 1964, the ballroom was bought and renovated by the Bourbon Orleans Hotel; today it can be, once again, used as a ballroom.

  •  

    As a convent in 1900

  •  

    In 1964

  •  

    Bourbon Orleans Hotel in 2011

American premieres Edit

The Théâtre d'Orléans gave the American premieres of many French operas and French adaptations of several well-known Italian operas.[11]

See also Edit

Notes Edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Belsom 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Joyce & McPeek 2001.
  3. ^ a b Crawford 2001, p. 191
  4. ^ Warrack & West 1992; Kutsch & Riemens 2003, p. 692.
  5. ^ a b Fraiser 2003, pp. 104–105.
  6. ^ Kmen 1966, p. 20.
  7. ^ Kmen 1966, p. 21.
  8. ^ Arthur 1936, p. 84.
  9. ^ Fraiser 2003, p. 105.
  10. ^ "The Life of a Building: 1817–2011" at old-new-orleans.com
  11. ^ Belsom 2007; Belsom 1992; Loewenberg 1978; Warrack & West 1992.
  12. ^ An English version, The Barber of Seville, was performed earlier, on 3 May 1819, at the Park Theatre in New York City.
  13. ^ There was an earlier performance of a work called The Lady of the Lake "with at least some of the music by Rossini", which was given by the Virginia Company at the St. Philip Theatre in New Orleans in January 1820 (Kmen 1966, p. 94).
  14. ^ Premiered on May 12 (Belom 2007); an English version, The Friend-Father, had already been presented in New York City on 7 April 1834 (Brown 2001, p. 572).
  15. ^ 22 November 1840 (Loewenberg 1978, column 761). A mutilated English version (The Swiss Cottage) had already been performed in New York City on 22 September 1836.
  16. ^ Performed 13 December 1842. An English version, William Tell, was performed earlier, on 19 September 1831, in New York City (Loewenberg 1978, column 721).
  17. ^ Ashbrook & Hibberd 2001, p. 244.
  18. ^ Given in French on 13 April 1857; the Italian version was premiered in New York on 2 May 1855 (Loewenberg 1978, columns 903–904).

Bibliography Edit

  • Arthur, Stanley Clisby (1936). Walking Tours of Old New Orleans. Reprint (1990): Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican. ISBN 9780882897400.
  • Ashbrook, William; Hibberd, Sarah (2001). "Gaetano Donizetti", pp. 224–247, in The New Penguin Opera Guide, edited by Amanda Holden. New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 9780140514759.
  • Belsom, Jack (1992). "New Orleans", vol. 3, pp. 584–585, in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-228-9
  • Belsom, Jack (2007). at the Wayback Machine (archived May 31, 2008)
  • Brown, Clive (2001). "Giacomo Meyerbeer" in The New Penguin Opera Guide, Amanda Holden (ed.). pp. 570–577. New York: Penguin / Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4.
  • Crawford, Richard (2001). America's Musical Life: A History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-04810-1.
  • Fraiser, Jim (2003). The French Quarter of New Orleans. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781578065240.
  • Hunt, Alfred (1988). Haiti's Influence on Antebellum America: Slumbering Volcano in the Caribbean. Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-1370-0.
  • Joyce, John; McPeek, Gwynn Spencer (2001). "New Orleans" in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5 (hardcover), OCLC 419285866 (eBook), and Grove Music Online.
  • Kmen, Henry A. (1966). Music in New Orleans: The Formative Years 1791–1841. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 9780807105481.
  • Kutsch, K. J.; Riemens, Leo (2003). Großes Sängerlexikon (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur. ISBN 978-3-598-11598-1.
  • Loewenberg, Alfred (1978). Annals of Opera 1597–1940 (third edition, revised). Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-87471-851-5.
  • Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992). The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869164-5.

External links Edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orleans Theater, New Orleans.
  • Belsom, Jack, "A History of Opera in New Orleans". Belsom was the archivist of the New Orleans Opera.

29°57′32″N 90°03′53″W / 29.959006°N 90.064652°W / 29.959006; -90.064652

October 20, 2023
théâtre, orléans, english, orleans, theatre, most, important, opera, house, orleans, first, half, 19th, century, company, performed, french, gave, american, premieres, many, french, operas, located, orleans, street, between, royal, bourbon, plans, theatre, wer. The Theatre d Orleans English Orleans Theatre was the most important opera house in New Orleans in the first half of the 19th century The company performed in French and gave the American premieres of many French operas It was located on Orleans Street between Royal and Bourbon The plans for the theatre were drawn up by Louis Tabary a refugee from the French colony of Saint Domingue Haiti Construction began in 1806 but the opening was delayed until October 1815 after the War of 1812 After a fire it was rebuilt with the adjacent Orleans Ballroom and reopened in 1819 led by another emigre from Saint Domingue John Davis Davis became one of the major figures in French theatre in New Orleans The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1866 1 2 but the ballroom is still used The Theatre d Orleans 1813 Contents 1 History of the theatre 1 1 1819 1837 John Davis 1 2 1837 1853 Pierre Davis 1 3 1853 1859 Charles Boudousquie 2 Orleans Ballroom 3 American premieres 4 See also 5 Notes 6 Bibliography 7 External linksHistory of the theatre Edit nbsp The Orleans Theatre and Ballroom 18381819 1837 John Davis Edit In the first five seasons under the leadership of Davis the Theatre d Orleans presented 140 operas including 52 American premieres The repertory consisted primarily of French operas by composers such as Boieldieu Isouard and Dalayrac 2 Shows could only be given from autumn through the spring ending when the heat and humidity forced it Unable to perform during the summer months Davis came up with a way to continue to make money even during the summer Beginning in 1827 Davis took the company on six tours to the northeastern United States bringing unfamiliar repertory to Boston New York Philadelphia and Baltimore and in the process brought national recognition to the theater 1 2 3 The Theatre d Orleans soon became part of a rivalry with the Camp Street Theatre run by James Caldwell and founded in 1824 Camp Street focused on operas performed in English 1 In 1835 both theatres produced Meyerbeer s Robert le diable Although Caldwell s English version as Robert the Devil 3 opened on March 30 ahead of Davis s French version which finally reached the stage on May 12 the latter production was thought to be closer to both the singing and the staging demands of the opera 1 Later that year the Camp Street Theatre opened a new facility the St Charles Theatre and hired Montresor s company from Havana to perform Italian opera among which were the American premieres of Vincenzo Bellini s Norma 1836 Beatrice di Tenda 1837 and I Capuleti e i Montecchi 1841 as well as Rossini s Semiramide and Donizetti s Parisina in 1837 2 1837 1853 Pierre Davis Edit Davis was succeeded as director of the Theatre d Orleans by his son Pierre in 1837 2 In the 1837 38 season Mademoiselle Julie Calve joined the company and was the leading soprano throughout the next decade She sang Henriette in the American premiere of Halevy s L eclair and was New Orleans first Lucie and Anne de Boulen its first Louise Norina in Don Pasquale and Valentine in Les Huguenots She also sang Pauline in Donizetti s Les martyrs 4 The theatre remained the dominant venue in New Orleans during the pre Civil War period Competition with Caldwell s St Charles Theatre and his New American Theatre ended in 1842 when both were destroyed by fire 1 With Caldwell s competition out of the way the Theatre d Orleans entered a period of dominance in New Orleans cultural life The company again performed in the northeast United States in 1843 and 1845 1 2 During the spring of 1844 New Orleans was visited by the important French soprano Laure Cinti Damoreau During her brief visit she was heard on two evenings as Rosine in Le Barbier de Seville During her two year appointment at the theatre Rosa de Vries van Os sang in many well known roles Most memorable would be her role on 21 April 1852 as Fides in Meyerbeer s Le Prophete The very day after her performance she gave birth to a daughter who took the name Fides Devries Both Fides and her sister Jeanne would become popular sopranos in their own right during their lifetimes 1853 1859 Charles Boudousquie Edit Pierre Davis was succeeded by the American born Charles Boudousquie husband of the soprano Julie Calve in 1853 Boudousquie staged many more American premieres and featured international stars like the German soprano Henriette Sontag and the Italian Erminia Frezzolini 1818 1884 In 1859 the Theatre d Orleans was superseded by the French Opera House which was built by Boudousquie after a quarrel with the owner of the Theatre d Orleans 1 2 Orleans Ballroom EditIn 1817 John Davis engaged architect William Brand to design the Orleans Ballroom Salle d Orleans next to the theatre 5 It was the site of many subscription balls carnival balls and masquerades and catered to the most select of New Orleans society For gala events the ballroom could be joined to the theatre where temporary flooring was laid over the pit making one enormous ballroom The facilities also included gambling rooms for those unlucky at love 6 When the noted American architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe visited in 1819 he judged it to be the best in the United States 7 The Marquis de Lafayette was entertained here during his six day visit in 1826 8 The famous New Orleans bals du cordon bleu quadroon balls were usually held at the Salle de Conde at the corner of Chartres and Madison streets but were also occasionally held at the Orleans Ballroom 5 At these events wealthy respectable Creole gentlemen would court young mixed race women and provide them with a house in the Faubourg Treme Many duels were fought over these Quadroon Mistresses citation needed The ballroom survived the 1866 fire that claimed the theatre and in 1873 was purchased by mulatto Thomy Lafon who was named for architect Barthelemy Lafon 9 It became a convent and school for the Sisters of the Holy Family a religious order founded in the city the first female led African American religious order in the country The old ballroom became their chapel Once when a sister was showing a visitor the convent she stopped at the chapel door This is the old Orleans Ballroom they say it is the best dancing floor in the world It is made of three thicknesses of cypress That is the balcony where the ladies and gentlemen used to promenade Down there on the banquette the beaux used to fight duels 10 In 1964 the ballroom was bought and renovated by the Bourbon Orleans Hotel today it can be once again used as a ballroom nbsp As a convent in 1900 nbsp In 1964 nbsp Bourbon Orleans Hotel in 2011American premieres EditThe Theatre d Orleans gave the American premieres of many French operas and French adaptations of several well known Italian operas 11 1819 Jean de Paris by Francois Adrien Boieldieu 1823 Le barbier de Seville by Gioachino Rossini 12 1827 La vestale by Gaspare Spontini 1827 La dame blanche by Boieldieu 1828 La pie voleuse by Rossini 1829 La dame du lac by Rossini 13 1830 Le comte Ory by Rossini 1831 La muette de Portici by Daniel Auber 1833 Zampa by Ferdinand Herold 1835 Robert le diable by Giacomo Meyerbeer 14 1836 Le cheval de bronze by Auber 1837 L eclair by Fromental Halevy 1838 Le domino noir by Auber 1838 Le postillon de Lonjumeau by Adolphe Adam 1839 Les Huguenots by Meyerbeer 1839 Anne de Boulen by Gaetano Donizetti 1840 Le chalet by Adam 15 1841 Lucie de Lammermoor by Donizetti 1842 Les diamants de la couronne by Auber 1842 Guillaume Tell by Rossini 16 1843 La favorite by Donizetti 1843 La fille du regiment by Donizetti 1844 La Juive by Halevy 1845 Don Pasquale by Donizetti 17 1846 Les martyrs by Donizetti 1847 Charles VI by Halevy 1848 Le maitre de chapelle by Ferdinando Paer 1850 Jerusalem by Giuseppe Verdi 1850 Le prophete by Meyerbeer 1850 Le caid by Ambroise Thomas 1851 Le songe d une nuit d ete by Thomas 1854 Margherita d Anjou by Meyerbeer 1855 L etoile du nord by Meyerbeer 1856 Si j etais roi by Adam 1857 Le trouvere by Verdi 18 1859 Jaguarita l Indienne by Halevy 1859 Les dragons de Villars by Aime MaillartSee also EditFrench Opera House New Orleans Opera Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre List of opera housesNotes Edit a b c d e f g Belsom 2007 a b c d e f g Joyce amp McPeek 2001 a b Crawford 2001 p 191 Warrack amp West 1992 Kutsch amp Riemens 2003 p 692 a b Fraiser 2003 pp 104 105 Kmen 1966 p 20 Kmen 1966 p 21 Arthur 1936 p 84 Fraiser 2003 p 105 The Life of a Building 1817 2011 at old new orleans com Belsom 2007 Belsom 1992 Loewenberg 1978 Warrack amp West 1992 An English version The Barber of Seville was performed earlier on 3 May 1819 at the Park Theatre in New York City There was an earlier performance of a work called The Lady of the Lake with at least some of the music by Rossini which was given by the Virginia Company at the St Philip Theatre in New Orleans in January 1820 Kmen 1966 p 94 Premiered on May 12 Belom 2007 an English version The Friend Father had already been presented in New York City on 7 April 1834 Brown 2001 p 572 22 November 1840 Loewenberg 1978 column 761 A mutilated English version The Swiss Cottage had already been performed in New York City on 22 September 1836 Performed 13 December 1842 An English version William Tell was performed earlier on 19 September 1831 in New York City Loewenberg 1978 column 721 Ashbrook amp Hibberd 2001 p 244 Given in French on 13 April 1857 the Italian version was premiered in New York on 2 May 1855 Loewenberg 1978 columns 903 904 Bibliography EditArthur Stanley Clisby 1936 Walking Tours of Old New Orleans Reprint 1990 Gretna Louisiana Pelican ISBN 9780882897400 Ashbrook William Hibberd Sarah 2001 Gaetano Donizetti pp 224 247 in The New Penguin Opera Guide edited by Amanda Holden New York Penguin Putnam ISBN 9780140514759 Belsom Jack 1992 New Orleans vol 3 pp 584 585 in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera edited by Stanley Sadie London Macmillan ISBN 978 1 56159 228 9 Belsom Jack 2007 A History of Opera in New Orleans at the Wayback Machine archived May 31 2008 Brown Clive 2001 Giacomo Meyerbeer in The New Penguin Opera Guide Amanda Holden ed pp 570 577 New York Penguin Putnam ISBN 0 14 029312 4 Crawford Richard 2001 America s Musical Life A History New York W W Norton amp Company ISBN 0 393 04810 1 Fraiser Jim 2003 The French Quarter of New Orleans Jackson University Press of Mississippi ISBN 9781578065240 Hunt Alfred 1988 Haiti s Influence on Antebellum America Slumbering Volcano in the Caribbean Louisiana State University Press ISBN 0 8071 1370 0 Joyce John McPeek Gwynn Spencer 2001 New Orleans in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 2nd edition edited by Stanley Sadie London Macmillan ISBN 978 1 56159 239 5 hardcover OCLC 419285866 eBook and Grove Music Online Kmen Henry A 1966 Music in New Orleans The Formative Years 1791 1841 Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press ISBN 9780807105481 Kutsch K J Riemens Leo 2003 Grosses Sangerlexikon fourth edition in German Munich K G Saur ISBN 978 3 598 11598 1 Loewenberg Alfred 1978 Annals of Opera 1597 1940 third edition revised Totowa New Jersey Rowman and Littlefield ISBN 978 0 87471 851 5 Warrack John West Ewan 1992 The Oxford Dictionary of Opera Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 869164 5 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orleans Theater New Orleans Belsom Jack A History of Opera in New Orleans Belsom was the archivist of the New Orleans Opera 29 57 32 N 90 03 53 W 29 959006 N 90 064652 W 29 959006 90 064652 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Theatre d 27Orleans amp oldid 1179557281, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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