biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1875–1947)
|
| biography:
| Naturalized French composer, born in Caracas, Venezuela. He arrived in Paris at the age of three. A pupil of Dubois and Massenet at the Conservatoire, he became a friend of Proust (he inspired the character Jean Santeuil) and of Sarah Bernhardt. In 1945–6 he was Directeur de l'Opéra. Gifted with a pleasant voice, he composed some charming melodies, such as ‘Si mes vers avaient des ailes’, and operettas, such as Mozart (1925) by Sacha Guitry for Yvonne Printemps, and the masterpiece of the genre Ciboulette (1923). In 1902 he composed an opera La Carmélite, and from an idea by Cocteau for Diaghilev he wrote a ballet in 1912, Le Dieu Bleu. His music has never received the recognition it deserves. |
|
|
