François-Benoît Hoffman

François-Benoît Hoffman (born July 11, 1760 in Nancy , † April 25, 1828 in Paris ) was a French playwright , librettist and journalist . Today he is known for his libretti for Étienne Méhul and Luigi Cherubini , including Cherubinis Médée (1797) in particular .

Life

Hoffman studied law at the University of Strasbourg . In 1784 he came to Paris, where he wrote his first libretto, Phèdre , for the composer Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne , and the joint work was performed in Fontainebleau in October 1786 . Hoffman soon fell out with Lemoyne and offered his libretto to Adrien, empereur de Rome Cherubini, who, however, preferred Hoffman's drama Médée . Adrien, in turn, was elected by Méhul, with whom Hoffman then collaborated in numerous operas, including Euphrosine (1790), Stratonice (1792) and Ariodant (1799).

Hoffman worked hard to ensure that author rights were guaranteed, he also fought for freedom of the press and the right not to have literary products censored. These activities often brought him into conflict with authorities and other authorities.

For his later operas Hoffman chose a different style than for his works from the 1790s. Les rendez-vous bourgeois with music by Isouard can be taken as an example . In 1807 he was invited by Charles-Guillaume Étienne to participate in his Journal de l'Empire (later Journal des Débats ).

Works

Libretti and other dramatic works

• Phèdre. Tragédie lyrique in 3 acts. Music by Jean-Baptiste Moyne . First performance on October 26, 1786 in Fontainebleau Palace
• Nephté. Tragédie lyrique in 3 acts. Music by Jean-Baptiste Moyne. First performance on December 15, 1789 at the Paris Opera
• Euphrosine ou le Tyran corrigé. Comédie in 5 acts. Music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul . First performance on October 4, 1790 in the Comédie-Italienne (reduced to 4, then to 3 acts)
• Adrien. Opera in 3 acts. Music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul. First performance in January 1792, in a revised version in 1802
• Stratonice . 1-act Comédie héroïque in verse. Music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul. First performance on May 3, 1792 in the Comédie-Italienne
• Le Jeune Sage et le Vieux Fou. Comédie in 1 act. Music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul. First performance on March 28, 1793 at the Opéra-Comique Paris
• Adélaïde. , Verse drama in 3 acts. First performance in 1793
• Callias. Verse-drama in 1 act. First performance in 1795
• Le Brigand. Opéra-comique in 3 acts. First performance in 1795
• Azeline. Comédie in 3 acts. First performance in 1797
• Médée . Opera in 3 acts. Music by Luigi Cherubini . First performance in 1797 at the Théâtre Feydeau Paris
• Ariodant. Drama in 3 acts. Music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul. First performance on October 11, 1799 at the Opéra-Comique Paris
• Bion . Comédie in 1 act. Music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul. First performance on December 27, 1800 at the Opéra-Comique Paris
• Lisistrata, ou Les Athéniennes, Comédie en un acte et en prose, mêlée de vaudevilles imitée d ' Aristophane . First performance on January 15, 1802 at the Théâtre Feydeau Paris
• Le Trésor supposé ou le Danger d'écouter aux portes. Comédie in 1 act. Music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul. First performance on July 29, 1802 at the Opéra-Comique Paris
• Le Roman d'une heure. Comédie in 1 act. First performance at the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell Paris 1803
• La Ruse inutile. Opéra-comique in 2 acts. First performance 1805
• Grimaldi. Comédie in 3 acts. Music by Rodolphe Kreutzer . First performance in 1810

Novels, essays

• Mes souvenirs ou Recueil de pensées fugitives (Eng .: My memories, or collection of fleeting thoughts ) (1802)

literature

• L. Castel: Notice Biographique et Littéraire sur F.-B. Hoffman , in: Œuvres de FB Hoffman précédées d'une Notice sur sa vie . Theater. Tome 2. S. V-LV.
• P. [aul?] Jacquinet: François Benoît Hoffman: sa vie, ses œuvres , Nancy 1878.
• Stratonice: Introduction to the Edition of Hoffman and Méhul's Opera , by M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet (Pendragon Press, 1997)

Web links

• Works by and about François-Benoît Hoffman  in the German Digital Library