Robert de Flers (Robert Pellevé de La Motte-Ango, marquis de Flers)
(25 November 1872, Pont-l'Évêque, Calvados â€" 30 July 1927, Vittel)
was a French playwright, opera librettist, and journalist.[1]He
entered the Lycée Condorcet in 1888 where he studied law with the
initial ambition of entering diplomatic service. He met and befriended
fellow student and writer Marcel Proust, and that relationship had a
great influence upon him. Proust exposed Flers to art, literature, and
music and his interests soon switched from law to writing, journalism,
and literature. The two men enjoyed a lifelong friendship.[1]After
completing his studies, he toured throughout Asia in the mid-1890s.
The event inspired his earliest writings: the novel La Courtisane
Taïa et son singe vert (1896), the short story Ilsée, princesse de
Tripoli (1896), and the travel narrative Vers l’Orient (1897). Upon
returning to Paris, he was approached by composer Edmond Audran to
write the libretto for his operetta La reine des reines. The worked
premiered on 14 October 1896 at the Théâtre de l'Eldorado in
Strasbourg. His next libretto was for Gaston Serpette's
vaudeville-operetta Shakspeare! which premiered at the Théâtre des
Bouffes Parisiens on 23 November 1899.[2]In 1901 de Flers married
Geneviève Sardou, the daughter of Victorien Sardou. He continued to
be active writing librettos. His third opera libretto, Les travaux
d'Hercule (1901), marked his first collaboration with fellow
playwright Gaston Arman de Caillavet and composer Claude Terrasse.
Most of his remaining librettos were written with Caillavet, often for
Terrasse who was their most frequent musical collaborator. Other
composers for which the two men wrote librettos include André
Messager, and Gabriel Pierné. The two men also wrote a French
translation of Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow in 1905 which was used
throughout France during the first half of the 20th century. Their
last opera collaboration was for Alfred Bruneau's 1923 opera Le jardin
du paradis. De Flers also wrote the librettos for Reynaldo Hahn's
Ciboulette (1923) with playwright Francis de Croisset, and Joseph
Szulc's Le petit choc (1923).[2]
(25 November 1872, Pont-l'Évêque, Calvados â€" 30 July 1927, Vittel)
was a French playwright, opera librettist, and journalist.[1]He
entered the Lycée Condorcet in 1888 where he studied law with the
initial ambition of entering diplomatic service. He met and befriended
fellow student and writer Marcel Proust, and that relationship had a
great influence upon him. Proust exposed Flers to art, literature, and
music and his interests soon switched from law to writing, journalism,
and literature. The two men enjoyed a lifelong friendship.[1]After
completing his studies, he toured throughout Asia in the mid-1890s.
The event inspired his earliest writings: the novel La Courtisane
Taïa et son singe vert (1896), the short story Ilsée, princesse de
Tripoli (1896), and the travel narrative Vers l’Orient (1897). Upon
returning to Paris, he was approached by composer Edmond Audran to
write the libretto for his operetta La reine des reines. The worked
premiered on 14 October 1896 at the Théâtre de l'Eldorado in
Strasbourg. His next libretto was for Gaston Serpette's
vaudeville-operetta Shakspeare! which premiered at the Théâtre des
Bouffes Parisiens on 23 November 1899.[2]In 1901 de Flers married
Geneviève Sardou, the daughter of Victorien Sardou. He continued to
be active writing librettos. His third opera libretto, Les travaux
d'Hercule (1901), marked his first collaboration with fellow
playwright Gaston Arman de Caillavet and composer Claude Terrasse.
Most of his remaining librettos were written with Caillavet, often for
Terrasse who was their most frequent musical collaborator. Other
composers for which the two men wrote librettos include André
Messager, and Gabriel Pierné. The two men also wrote a French
translation of Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow in 1905 which was used
throughout France during the first half of the 20th century. Their
last opera collaboration was for Alfred Bruneau's 1923 opera Le jardin
du paradis. De Flers also wrote the librettos for Reynaldo Hahn's
Ciboulette (1923) with playwright Francis de Croisset, and Joseph
Szulc's Le petit choc (1923).[2]
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