Home / Archives collections / Livrets de mise en scène
Livrets de mise en scène
Description
The collection of livrets de mises en scène lyriques (printed stage-direction books) in the former Fonds Heugel-Leduc, now kept by the Palazzetto Bru Zane, relates to over seventy operas premiered between 1851 (La Perle du Brésil by F. David) and 1932 (La Femme nue by H. Février). The collection covers several operatic genres, from drame musical to grand opera, and opéra comique to operetta. Massenet was prominently showcased by his publisher, with 28 opera staging manuals and ballet notes, followed by the most representative French composers of the second half of the 19th century (Hervé, Thomas, Delibes, Bruneau, etc.). The introductions to these manuals, written by Michela Niccolaï, indicate, as far as possible, the person responsible for the staging (often the theatre director and not the stage manager who wrote out the staging text), the date (premiere or significant revival) and the opera house.