Call Number:

Print Collection 30

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.2 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

French

Preferred Citation:

Belle Époque musical concert and opera programs and periodicals collection, 1897-1914, Print Collection 30, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1897-1914 (inclusive)

Form:

Ticket stubs, Newspapers, and Concert programs

Abstract:

The Belle Époque, dating from the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, is described as a period of optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity, and techonological, scientific, and cultural innovations during the French Third Republic. It is particularly known as an era in which the arts flourished in Paris and other European Francophone centers. This collection contains programs, publications, advertisements and tickets which document classical music and operatic performances at a variety of concert venues and music halls.

The Belle Époque, dating from the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, is described as a period of optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity, and techonological, scientific, and cultural innovations during the French Third Republic. It is particularly known as an era in which the arts flourished in Paris and other European Francophone centers. Several masterpieces of music, theater, and visual arts gained recognition in this era. Due to the prosperity of the era, the Parisian bourgeoisie increasingly participated in the activities of the rich, including seeking out performance entertainment. For the less affluent, cabarets, bistros, and music halls rose as popular locations of entertainment.

This collection contains programs, publications, advertisements and tickets which document classical music and operatic performances at a variety of concert venues and music halls in Paris, Geneva, and Brussels. These venues include Chez Simon Fourniez, Église de la Sorbonne, Folies-Bergère, Grand Café Universel, Grand Hôtel de l'Athénée, Grande Salle du Casino de St. Pierre, Grande Salle du Conservatoire, Impresario: Emil Kleemann, Kursaal de Montreux, Musée Rath, Nouveau-Théâtre, le Cabaret du Ciel of Paris, Montmartre, Salle des Agriculteurs, Salle des Fêtes, Salle de la Réformation, Salle de la Société Royale de la Grande Harmonie, Salle du Cirque d'Hiver, Salle Pleyel, Salon de l'Hôtel, Sanatorium de Clairmont-Sur-Sierre, Théâtre de la Ville de Genève, Théâtre du Chatelet, Théâtre du Vaudeville, Théâtre National de l'Opéra, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Victoria Hall and Waux Hall. The composers represented include Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner, Liszt, Bizet, Saint-Saens, Fauré, Debussy, Dvorak, Charpentier, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Bach, Anton Rubinstein, Berlioz, Rameau, Smetana, Glinka and several others. The featured conductors, soloists, and singers include Claude Debussy, Arthur Nikisch, Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov, Lucien Wurmser, Édouard Risler, Pablo de Sarasate, and Hans Richter. Some of the programs are illustrated with celebrity portraits such as Mme. Réjane, Loïe Fuller of the Folies-Bergère, Mme. Daynes-Grassot, Mlle. Bréval and Mlle. Téclair of the Théâtre National de l'Opéra. Researchers will also find a few advertisements as well as tickets for performances (many of which are not represented in the collection with programs).

This collection also includes five issues of La Scène Théâtrale, Artistique, et Littéraire, two issues of L'Illustration, La Semaine de Paris, and one issue of L'Opéra: Journal Quotidien. These periodicals contain musical news and advertisements and, in the case of L'Illustration, La Semaine de Paris, a list of sporting events, museum or church exhibitions, public events or spectacles, and other things to do in Paris. The issue of L'Opéra: Journal Quotidien contains two tipped-on photographic celebrity portraits of mezzo-soprano Laure Beauvais and opera singer Hippolyte Mondaud.