The French school of light opera, founded by Grétry, reached its
greatest perfection in the authors of "La Dame Blanche" and "Fra
Diavolo," though to the former of these composers must be accorded the
peculiar distinction of having given the most perfect example of this
style of composition. FRANÇOIS ADRIEN BOÏELDIEU, the scion of a Norman
family, was born at Rouen, December 16, 1775. He received his early
musical training at the hands of Broche, a great musician and the
cathedral organist, but a drunkard and brutal taskmaster. At the age
of sixteen he had become a good pianist and knew something of
composition. At all events, his passionate love of the theatre
prompted him to try his hand at an opera, which was actually performed
at Rouen. The revolution which made such havoc with the clergy and
their dependants ruined the Boïeldieu family (the elder Boïeldieu had
been secretary of the archiepiscopal diocese), and young François, at
the age of nineteen, was set adrift on the world, his heart full of
hope and his ambition bent on Paris, whither he set his feet. Paris,
however, proved a stern stepmother at the outset, as she always has
been to the struggling and unsuccessful. He was obliged to tune pianos
for his living, and was glad to sell his brilliant _chansons_, which
afterwards made a fortune for his publisher, for a few francs apiece.
Several years of hard work and bitter privation finally culminated in
the acceptance of an opera, "La Famille Suisse," at the Théâtre
Faydeau in 1796, where it was given on alternate nights with
Cherubini's "Médée." Other operas followed in rapid succession, among
which may be mentioned "La Dot de Suzette" (1798) and "Le Calife de
Bagdad" (1800). The latter of these was remarkably popular, and drew
from the severe Cherubini the following rebuke--"Malheureux! Are you
not ashamed of such undeserved triumph?" Boïeldieu took the brusque
criticism meekly and preferred a request for further instruction from
Cherubini--a proof of modesty and good sense quite remarkable in one
who had attained recognition as a favourite with the musical public.
Boïeldieu's three years' studies under the great Italian master were
of much service, for his next work, "Ma Tante Aurore," produced in
1803, showed noticeable artistic progress.
It was during this year that Boïeldieu, goaded by domestic misery
(for he had married the danseuse Clotilde Mafleuray, whose notorious
infidelity made his name a bye-word), exiled himself to Russia, even
then looked on as an El Dorado for the musician, where he spent eight
years as conductor and composer of the Imperial Opera. This was all
but a total eclipse in his art-life, for he did little of note during
the period of his St. Petersburg career.
He returned to Paris in 1811, where he found great changes. Méhul and
Cherubini, disgusted with the public, kept an obstinate silence; and
Nicolo was not a dangerous rival. He set to work with fresh zeal, and
one of his most charming works, "Jean de Paris," produced in 1812, was
received with a storm of delight. This and "La Dame Blanche" are the
two masterpieces of the composer in refined humour, masterly
delineation, and sustained power both of melody and construction. The
fourteen years which elapsed before Boïeldieu's genius took a still
higher flight were occupied in writing works of little value except as
names in a catalogue. The long-expected opera "La Dame Blanche" saw
the light in 1825, and it is to-day a stock opera in Europe, one
Parisian theatre alone having given it nearly two thousand times.
Boïeldieu's latter years were uneventful and unfruitful. He died in
1834 of pulmonary disease, the germs of which were planted by St.
Petersburg winters. "Jean de Paris" and "La Dame Blanche" are the two
works, out of nearly thirty operas, which the world cherishes as
masterpieces.