( b Lille, 27 Jan 1823; d Paris, 22 April 1892). French composer. He studied at the Lille Conservatory and in Habeneck's class at the Paris Conservatoire. As a violinist and teacher in Paris in the 1850s he showed an unfashionable inclination towards chamber music, playing Classical string quartets and composing string trios and a noteworthy quartet. During the 1870s he attracted attention for his instrumental works, especially for the Symphonie espagnole (1874), a five-movement violin concerto, and the powerful Cello Concerto (1877). After disappointment at the poor reception of his opera Fiesque (1866-7), he took up stage music again in 1875, winning success with Le roi d′Ys (1888), on which his operatic fame has rested; his ballet score Namouna (1881-2) became popular as a series of orchestral suites. Among the hallmarks of Lalo's music, the vigour of which stands in contrast to the style of Franck's pupils and the impressionists, are his strongly diatonic melody, piquant harmony and ingenious orchestration.
Lalo, Édouard Victor Antoine (ādwär' vēktôr' äNtwän' lälō'), 1823-92, French composer. Lalo's opera, Le Roi d'Ys (1888), Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra (1875), and ballet, Namouna (1882), gained him wide renown in his time.
Author of the popular Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra, a work which captivates the listener with its melodic charm and great passion, Lalo was a major composer of orchestral and chamber music at a time when French musicians were dominated by an impulse to compose for the theater. His lesser known, but by no means little accomplished, works include the powerfully emotional Cello Concerto in D minor, a work which aptly makes use of the instrument's expressive potential, and the ballet, Namouna.
Lalo left home at the age of 16 because his father did not want him to be a professional musician. He studied the violin at the Paris Conservatoire, also learning composition privately. While supporting himself as a violinist, performing and giving lessons, Lalo also composed. His early works, published in the 1840s, include pieces for the violin. In the 1850s, Lalo became an important member of a movement to revive chamber music in France. By the mid-1850s, he had already composed two piano trios, which show a considerable mastery of that form. In 1855, Lalo helped found the Armingaud Quartet; this ensemble was created to promote the music of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Mendelssohn. Lalo, who was the quartet's violist and second violinist, composed a string quartet in 1859, thus enhancing his stature as a composer of chamber music. In 1865, Lalo married Julie Bernier de Maligny, a singer who eventually became a leading performer of his songs.
Nevertheless, Lalo wished to compose for the stage, and in 1866 he started writing Fiesque, an opera based on Friedrich Schiller's play Fiesko. While Lalo was pleased by his opera, the Paris Opera decided against producing this work. However, despite this setback, Lalo's career flourished. The creation, in 1871, of the Societe Nationale de Musique, whose program was to promote the works of contemporary composers, provided Lalo with an impetus to continue composing for the orchestra. Thus, during the 1870s, Lalo composed several impressive works, including a Violin Concerto in F major, the famous Symphonie espagnole, the Cello Concerto, and the Fantaisie norvegienne for violin and orchestra.
In 1875, Lalo started work on Le Roi d'Ys, an opera based on a Breton legend. Feeling that his work was nearing completion, Lalo offered it to the Opera in 1881. Once again, theaters refused to produce Lalo's work; however, perhaps wishing to somehow compensate the composer, the Opera asked him to compose a ballet. During 1881 and 1882 Lalo wrote Namouna, based on a story from Casanova's Memoires, and the ballet was performed in 1883 to a less-than-appreciative audience. Throughout the 1880s, however, Lalo continued promoting Le Roi d'Ys. The opera was finally performed at the Opera-Comique in 1888, and the reception was extremely favorable. Following this belated triumph, Lalo embarked on several new projects, including Neron, a pantomime, which was performed in 1891. A new opera, La jacquerie, remained unfinished. ~ Zoran Minderovic, All Music Guide
Lalo was born in Lille (Nord), in northernmost France. He attended that city's music conservatory in his youth. Then, beginning at age 16, Lalo studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Berlioz's old enemy François Antoine Habeneck. For several years, he worked as a string player and teacher in Paris. He joined with friends to found the Armingaud Quartet, playing viola and second violin. Lalo's earliest surviving compositions are songs and chamber works. (Two early symphonies were destroyed.) Julie Besnier de Maligny, a contralto from Brittany, became his bride in 1865. She aroused Lalo's early interest in opera and led him to compose works for the stage. Unfortunately, they were deemed too progressive and Wagnerian and were not initially well received despite their freshness and originality. This led him to dedicate most of his career to the composition of chamber music, which was in vogue, and to writing works for orchestra.
Although Lalo is not one of the most immediately recognized names in French music, his distinctive style has earned him some degree of popularity. Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra still enjoys a prominent place in violinists' repertoire, and is known in many classical circles simply as "The Lalo". Lalo is also known for concertos, including his Cello Concerto in D minor. The same Breton legend that inspired "Le roi d'Ys", went on to spark the creation of his Symphony in G Minor and chamber works. Lalo's style is notable for strong melodies and colourful orchestration, with a rather Germanic solidity that sets him apart from most of his compatriots. This distinctive style and strong expressive bent can be seen even in such compactly constructed works as the Scherzo in D minor, one of Lalo's most colorful compositions.
Lalo did not gain fame as a composer until his late forties. "Le roi d'Ys" ("The King of Ys"), an opera based on a Breton legend (see: "Ys"), is his most accomplished and complex work. (The same legend inspired Debussy to compose his famous piano piece, La Cathédrale engloutie.) The opera was rejected for 10 years after composition and was not performed until 1888, when he was 65 years old. Its success opened doors for Lalo to the end of his life. However, his imagination and the desire to compose new music were diminishing. He died in Paris at age 69, leaving several unfinished works.
Lalo's son Pierre Lalo (6 September 1866 - 9 June 1943) was a music critic who wrote for Le Temps and other French periodicals from 1898 until his death.
Selected works
Édouard Lalo
Operas
Fiesque ("The Genoese Conspiracy") (1866-8), (grand opera in 3 acts, C. Beauquier, after Schiller); world premiere concert performance: Le Festival de Radio France, Montpellier, France, July 2006; first stage performance: National Theater Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany, 16 June 2007.[1] ; The UK premiere of Fiesque was performed by University College Opera at The Bloomsbury Theatre, London in March 2008.[2]
Le roi d'Ys ("The King of Ys") (1875-88, full score n.d.), (opera in 3 acts, E. Blau), f.p. Opéra Comique (Favart), Paris, 7 May 1888.
Néron ("Nero") (1891) (pantomime in 3 acts, P. Millier), f.p. Hippodrôme, Paris, 28 March 1891. (Pastiche based on Fiesque and other scores)
La jacquerie ("The Jacquerie Revolt") (1891-2) (opera in 4 acts, Blau & S. Arnault) (Act I finished by Lalo, completed posthumously by Arthur Coquard), f.p. Monte Carlo, Monaco, 9 March 1895.
Sadie, Stanley (Ed.) (1994) [1992]. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. vol. 2, E-Lom, chpt: "Lalo, Edouard(-Victoire-Antoine)" by Hugh Macdonald. New York: MacMillan. ISBN 0-935859-92-6.
