Adolphe de Leuven

Adolphe de Leuven (29 September 1802 – 14 April 1884) was a French theatre director and a librettist. Also known as Grenvallet, and Count Adolph Ribbing.[1]

Adolphe de Leuven
Le Joaillier de Saint-James at the l'Opéra-Comique, L'Illustration, 17 February 1862
Born29 September 1802
Paris
Died14 April 1884(1884-04-14) (aged 81)
Marly-le-Roi
Occupation(s)Librettist, writer, dramatist

He was the illegitimate son of Adolph Ribbing, who was involved in the assassination of Gustav III of Sweden in 1792, and Jeanne-Claude Billard. He took his name as a variation of that of his paternal grandmother, Eva Löwen.[2]

He produced over 170 plays and librettos, with operatic settings by Adam including Le postillon de Lonjumeau, Clapisson, Félicien David (Le Saphir) and Thomas.[3]

He was associated with the Opéra-Comique for fifty years and was director (with Eugène Ritt as administrator) from 1862 to 1870 and co-director with Camille du Locle from 1870-1874.[3] He resigned in protest at the on-stage murder in Carmen.[4]

References
  1. His father was one of the conspirators against Gustav III of Sweden, who appears in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera (as Samuel/Count Ribbing). From Dean W. Carmen’s place in history. Booklet to Decca recording of Carmen conducted by Solti, 1976.
  2. Carlquist, Gunnar, red (1937). Svensk uppslagsbok. Bd 17. Malmö: Svensk Uppslagsbok AB. Sid. 57
  3. Wright L A. "Leuven, Adolphe de" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, four volumes, edited by Stanley Sadie. London & New York, Macmillan, 1997.
  4. Winston Dean, Bizet, 1978, p. 110. ISBN 9780460031639.
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