Fromental Halévy

Fromental Halévy (born May 27, 1799, Paris—died March 17, 1862, Nice, Fr.) was a French composer whose five-act grand opera La Juive (1835; “The Jewess”) was, with Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots, the prototype of early French grand opera.

Halévy studied at the Paris Conservatoire from the age of 10 and won the Prix de Rome in 1819 for his cantata Herminie. His first opera performed was L’Artisan (1827), but it was not until Le Dilettante d’Avignon (1829) and the ballet Manon Lescaut (1830) were staged that he achieved popular success. In 1835 he wrote La Juive with a libretto by Eugène Scribe. This opera held its place in the French operatic repertoire for more than a century, though it now sounds outdated.

Halévy began teaching at the Conservatoire in 1827 and advanced to professor of composition, teaching Charles Gounod, Georges Bizet, and Camille Saint-Saëns. He also became chorus master at the Opéra, a member of the Institute of France, and secretary to the Académie des Beaux-Arts and was created chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Others of his more significant operas were Clari (1828), L’Éclair (1835; “The Lightning Flash”), La Fée aux roses (1849; “The Rose Fairy”), La Dame de pique (1850; “The Spiteful Lady”), and L’Inconsolable (1855).