Jules Massenet

On Tour

130,153 plays (44,651 listeners)

classical, opera, romantic, composers, french… see all

Massenet’s operas shared the opera vogue of nineteenth century France with Wagner’s, their direct opposite. Massenet’s twenty-five were of the Meyerbeer-Offenbach type, that is, light and popular, rather than “grand”. Some of them helped to insure the success of Oscar Hammerstein’s opera experiment in New York. Manon is a typical Massenet opera. Its superficial appeal is strong, thanks to its extremely singable melodies.

Massenet wrote operas with one eye on the prima donna who was to sing them. This habit was not discouraged by his wife, who knew that prima donnas were his bread and butter. She encouraged him to send them operas rather than pearl necklaces.

He studied under Ambroise Thomas at the Conservatoire, and traveled his full three years as a Prix de Rome winner, making the acquaintance of the ubiquitous Liszt while in Rome. He returned to Paris in time to shoulder a gun during the siege of 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War. He then settled down to teaching counterpoint at the Conservatoire, writing operas, and enjoying the footlight existence of the opera composer. His personal charm and the style of the particular kind of operas he wrote, at the particular time he wrote them, brought him wide popularity. When he died in his apartment in Paris, there were many more than the bereft prima donnas to mourn his loss.

Express Smoothies
Jules Massenet
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download
Was It A Dream
Various Artists
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download
Nocturne / CD 2
Various Artists
Buy
- Amazon
- eBay
Download
Classics for the Heart
Various Artists
Buy from Insound

Top Tracks

1	Meditation from Thais full track	402
2	Heure vécue?	202
3	Meditations from Thais full track	158
4	meditation aus thais	124
5	Act III: Ah! tout est bien fini....O souverain! full track	91
6	Meditation from "Thais" full track	50
7	Meditation (Thais) full track	49
8	Meditation full track	46
9	Elegie full track	41
10	I. Prelude et divertissement full track	40
11	Meditation (From Thais) full track	35
12	Thais: Meditation full track	33
13	Les Erinnyes: No. 3 Invocation (Elégie)	21
14	III. Scene finale full track	20
15	Andalouse full track	19

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

brendanvox wrote:
December 2007

o souverain o judge o mom and dad

View Profile | Leave brendanvox a shout
flashy wrote:
November 2007

jules rocks!

View Profile | Leave flashy a shout

Events

Dec 20 Thaïs Kinepolis, Ghent, Belgium
Add shout

Add event | See more

Listeners

anadnamandana
Top Listener
thebigfunk
Top Listener
JimmySatoh
Top Listener
irishlight
Top Listener
eshm
Top Listener
Holgi42
Top Listener

Recent Activity

dbenavides, tanerdemir74, jepi67 and 9 other people added Jules Massenet to their libraries. 2 hours ago
b-west added Jules Massenet to the lineup of Thaïs at Kinepolis. Sunday morning
vzan, victoriacallon, akriy and 16 other people added Jules Massenet to their libraries. Saturday evening
consol1257 tagged Jules Massenet with ‘classical’. last month
AFFmusica, caballoleon, Holoturoideu and 3 other people added Jules Massenet to their libraries. last month
BabyBizarre tagged Jules Massenet with ‘classical’. last month
LaMicina, peibolcuevas, refs_unperson and 2 other people added Jules Massenet to their libraries. last month
woyopalembang tagged Jules Massenet with ‘jules massenet’. last month
daltonknox, crystaljikim and rebsamen added Jules Massenet to their libraries. last month
chiptotec and GoGoGadgetMusic tagged Jules Massenet with ‘classical’. last month