Editing Adolphe Adam (section)

==Life and career==
===Early years===
[[ File:Louis-Adam-father-of-Adolphe-Adam.jpg|Adam's father, Louis, 1834|thumb|upright|alt=middle aged, clean-shaven white man with full head of neatly cut white hair]]
Adam was born in Paris on 24 July 1803, the elder of the two children, both sons, of [[Louis Adam|(Jean) Louis Adam]] and his third wife, Élisa, ''née'' Coste. She was the daughter of a prominent physician, and was a former pupil of her husband, a well-known composer, pianist and professor at the [[Conservatoire de Paris|Paris Conservatoire]].<ref>Pougin (1877), pp. 22–23</ref> Louis Adam gave his son lessons, but the boy was reluctant to learn even the basics of musical theory, and instead played fluently by ear:
{{blockindent|I loved music, but I didn't want to learn it. I would sit quiet for hours, listening to my father play the piano, and as soon as I was alone I tapped on the instrument without knowing my notes. I knew without realising it how to find the harmonies. I didn't want to do scales or read music; I always improvised.<ref>''Quoted'' in Lavignac, p. 3495</ref>|}}
He later said that he never became a fluent sight-reader of a score. His mother concluded that her son needed a rigorous education, and he was sent to a boarding school, the Hix institute in the [[Champs-Élysées]]. It had a high reputation both academically and musically: his elder contemporary (and pupil of Louis Adam) [[Ferdinand Hérold]] had been educated there,<ref>Pougin (1877), p. 24 and (1906), p. 7</ref> and the music master was [[Henry Lemoine]], another of Louis' former students. Adolphe was not an academic child, and recalled in his memoirs how he had recoiled from the study of Latin, which he found "barbaric".<ref>Adam, p. IX</ref> The fall of the [[First French Empire|French Empire]] in 1814–15, and the ensuing economic problems badly affected Louis Adam's income, and to save money his son was sent to a less expensive school. The staff there were capable, but Adam remained as indifferent to musical theory as to Latin.<ref>Pougin (1877), p. 30</ref>
[[File:Léon Riesener - Portrait de François-Adrien Boieldieu.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Adam's professor of composition, [[François-Adrien Boieldieu|Adrien Boieldieu]]|alt=painting of clean-shaven white man, with neat short dark hair]]
At the age of 17 Adam enrolled at the Conservatoire, where he studied the organ with [[François Benoist]], counterpoint with [[Anton Reicha]] and composition with [[François-Adrien Boieldieu|Adrien Boieldieu]]. Adam's biographer [[Elizabeth Forbes (musicologist)|Elizabeth Forbes]] calls Boieldieu the chief architect of Adam's musical development.<ref name=grove>Forbes, Elizabeth. [https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.45660 "Adam, Adolphe (Charles)"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2001. Retrieved 11 September 2021 {{subscription required}}</ref> He set his student exercises that taught him to compose sustained melodies without showy [[Modulation (music)|modulations]] and other technical devices.<ref>Pougin (1877), pp. 31–32</ref> Adam's father did not want his son to become a professional composer: he would have preferred him to pursue a commercial or academic career, and although he gave Adam board and lodging he refused to subsidise any musical activities.<ref>Pougin (1877), p. 35</ref> By the age of 20 Adam was contributing songs to the Paris [[Comédie en vaudeville|vaudeville]] theatres, writing what he later called "bad romances and worse piano pieces", and giving music lessons.<ref>Adam, p. XVI</ref>

Duchaume, [[timpani|timpanist]] and chorus master of the new [[Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell|Théâtre du Gymnase]], offered Adam an unpaid post playing the [[Triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]] in the orchestra. Adam said that as he would have paid to be allowed to join he was happy to serve without a salary, but he was quickly promoted to a well paid position:
{{blockindent|My entry to the Gymnase was an event in my life. I made acquaintances and friendships with actors and writers; that was, in a word, my starting point. Duchaume died, and I succeeded him as timpanist and chorus master, at a salary of six hundred francs a year. It was a fortune. I no longer gave thirty-sous lessons, and I wrote a little less trashy music.<ref>Adam, pp. XVI–XVII</ref>|}}

In 1824 Adam entered the Conservatoire's most important musical competition, the {{lang|fr|[[Prix de Rome]]|italic=no}}. He gained an honourable mention, and the following year, at his second attempt, he won the second prize.  Forbes writes that Adam derived more benefit from helping Boieldieu with the preparation of his opera ''[[La dame blanche|La Dame blanche]]'', produced at the [[Opéra-Comique]] in December 1825. Adam's piano transcriptions of themes from the opera were published in 1826 and made him enough money to tour the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland in summer 1826 with a family friend, Sébastien Guillié. In Geneva he met the librettist [[Eugène Scribe]], with whom he later collaborated on nine stage works.<ref name=grove/>

===Early successes===
[[File:Le-Mal-du-pays-by-Adolphe-Adam.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|''Le Mal du pays'', Adam's first opera, 1827|alt=stage scene with a woman standing between two men]]
During 1824–1827 Adam wrote or arranged the music for several one-act vaudevilles given at the Gymnase and the [[Théâtre du Vaudeville]], including four written by Scribe as sole or co-author. In late 1827 Scribe provided the text for Adam's first opera, a one-act comic piece, ''Le Mal du pays, ou La Batelière de Brientz'' (Homesickness, or the Bargewoman of Brientz), comprising an overture and eleven numbers; it was produced at the Gymnase on 28 December 1827. A little over a year later, in February 1829, Adam's second one-act opera, ''Pierre et Catherine'', was given in a double bill at the [[Opéra-Comique]] with Auber and Scribe's ''La Fiancée'', and ran for more than 80 performances.<ref name=grove/>

Seven months after the premiere of ''Pierre et Catherine'' Adam married Sara Lescot, a member of the chorus at the Vaudeville. Adam's biographer [[Arthur Pougin]] describes the marriage as "an important and unfortunate event for him".<ref>Pougin (1877), p. 63</ref> By Pougin's account, Lescot manoeuvred Adam into marriage, and on his side – and later hers also – it was a loveless union; they separated in 1835.<ref>Pougin (1877), p. 106</ref> Their only child, Léopold-Adrien, born in 1832, killed himself in 1851.<ref>Lavignac, p. 3496; and [https://francearchives.fr/facomponent/edb55b54d7e6022b1c4525f59f0f42d7d4593ad9 "Notoriété après décès de Léopold-Adrien Adam"], France Archives. Retrieved 11 September 2021</ref>

Adam's first full length operas were premiered in 1829: ''Le jeune propriétaire et le vieux fermier'' and ''Danilowa'', [[opéra comique|opéras comiques]] given at the [[Théâtre des Nouveautés]] and the Opéra-Comique respectively. ''Danilowa'' ran well until Parisian life was disrupted by the [[July Revolution]]. That, and an outbreak of [[cholera]], led Adam to move to London; this was at the suggestion of his brother-in-law, Pierre François Laporte, manager of the [[Her Majesty%27s Theatre#Pierre François Laporte|King's Theatre, Haymarket]]. In 1832 Laporte leased the [[Royal Opera House|Theatre Royal, Covent Garden]], and in October, as an afterpiece to ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'', he presented [[James Planché]]'s ''His First Campaign'', a "Military Spectacle" about the [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]], with music by Adam.<ref>"Covent Garden Theatre", ''The Sun'', 24 September 1832, p. 1; and "Theatre Royal, Covent-Garden", ''Morning Herald'', 26 September 1832, p. 2</ref> The piece was received with "loud and general plaudits",<ref>"The Theatres", ''English Chronicle and Whitehall Evening Post'', 2 October 1832, p. 4</ref> but ''The Dark Diamond'', a historical melodrama in three acts, which followed on 5 November, failed to repeat its success, and Adam went home to Paris in December. He returned briefly to London when his ballet ''Faust'' was presented at the King's Theatre in February and March 1833.<ref name=grove/>

===Peak career===
[[File:Giselle -Carlotta Grisi -1841 -2.jpg|thumb|alt=young white woman dancing in fairy costume, with small wings on her back|[[Carlotta Grisi]] in the title role of ''[[Giselle]]'', 1841]]

In 1834 Adam had one of his greatest popular successes with ''[[Le chalet]]'', at the Opéra-Comique. This was a one-act opéra comique with words by Scribe and [[Mélesville]] based on [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s ''Jery und Bätely''. It was given more than 1000 times in Paris over the next four decades.<ref name=grove/> In May 1836 Adam was appointed as a chevalier of the [[Legion of Honour]], later promoted to officer of the order.<ref>Pougin (1877), pp. 113 and 179</ref> His first work for the [[Paris Opéra]] was a ballet, ''La fille du Danube'', introduced by [[Marie Taglioni]] in September 1836.<ref name=grove/> Within days of the premiere of that piece, his three-act opéra comique ''[[Le postillon de Lonjumeau]]'' opened successfully at the Opéra-Comique. It was the composer's greatest operatic success internationally, quickly taken up by foreign managements and seen in London in 1837 and New York in 1840.<ref>Harewood, p. 755</ref>

During 1838 and 1839 Adam composed the music for ''Les Mohicans'', a ballet for the Opéra, and four operas for the Opéra-Comique, and in September 1839 he left Paris for St Petersburg. His ballet for Taglioni, ''L'Écumeur de mer'' (The Pirate) was given before the imperial court in February 1840, and two of his operas were staged. He left Russia for Paris at the end of March, stopping off in Berlin, where he wrote an opera-ballet, ''Die Hamadryaden'' (The Tree Nymphs), which he conducted at the Court Opera in April 1840.<ref name=grove/>

Adam's next substantial work was the composition by which he has become best known: the ballet ''[[Giselle]]''.<ref name=grove/><ref name=slon/> Based on [[Heinrich Heine]]'s version of an old tale, the ballet premiered at the Opéra on 28 June 1841 with [[Carlotta Grisi]] in the title role. Adam continued his prolific output, including his first [[grand opera]], ''Richard en Palestine'', which was produced at the Opéra in 1844 but aroused little interest.<ref name=grove/> In that year he was elected to membership of the [[Académie des Beaux-Arts]].<ref>Pougin (1877), p. 179</ref>

===Financial disaster===

In 1845 [[François-Louis Crosnier]], director of the Opéra-Comique, resigned and was succeeded by [[Alexandre Basset]]. Basset soon fell out with Adam and told him that as long as he was director, Adam's works would never be performed at the Opéra-Comique.<ref name=w2>Walsh, pp. 2–4</ref> Early in 1847 a theatre in the [[Boulevard du Temple]] became available, and Adam, in partnership with the actor Achille Mirecour, took it over, rechristening it the [[Opéra-National]]. The cost of refurbishing the theatre was enormous, and in addition to investing his own money, Adam raised large sums in loans.<ref name=w2/> The new opera house opened in November 1847, but from the outset its prospects looked doubtful. Financial and artistic performance alike were poor, and the [[French Revolution of 1848|1848 Revolution]] was the final blow to the enterprise. The theatres were closed by the incoming régime, and when they were permitted to re-open, there was little demand for tickets at Adam's opera house, which closed on 28 March 1848, after the production of nine operas during its four months of existence, leaving him financially ruined.<ref>Walsh, pp. 4 and 359</ref>

Adam assigned the royalties from his earlier works to help pay off his debts, and like many other French composers in need of money he turned to journalism to earn extra income.{{refn|[[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]], [[Gabriel Fauré|Fauré]], [[André Messager|Messager]], [[Paul Dukas|Dukas]] and [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]] all practised journalism during their careers.<ref>Macdonald, Hugh. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051424 "Berlioz, (Louis-)Hector"]; Nectoux, Jean-Michel. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000009366 "Fauré, Gabriel"]; Wagstaff, John, and Andrew Lamb. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018492 "Messager, André"]; Schwartz, Manuela, and G.W. Hopkins. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000008282 "Dukas, Paul"]; and Lesure, François, and Roy Howat [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000007353. "Debussy, (Achille-)Claude"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 12 September 2021 {{subscription required}}</ref>|group=n}} He contributed reviews and articles to ''[[Le Constitutionnel]]'' and the ''Assemblée nationale''. He also became a teacher, accepting the post of professor of composition at the Conservatoire, where his students included [[Léo Delibes]].<ref>Curzon, p. 9</ref> Meanwhile, Basset having left the Opéra-Comique at the time of the revolution, Adam was able to return to what Forbes calls his spiritual home under its new director, [[Émile Perrin]].<ref name=grove/>

===Last years===
[[File:Mlle-Meyer-Queen-Giralda.jpg|Mlle Meyer as the Queen in ''Giralda'', 1850|thumb|upright|alt=young, dark-haired white woman in medieval court costume]]
In July 1850 ''[[Giralda ou La nouvelle psyché|Giralda]],'' [[Giralda ou La nouvelle psyché|ou ''La nouvelle psyché'']] – one of Adam's best operas in Forbes's view – was given at the Opéra-Comique. In 1851 his estranged wife died, and Adam married the singer Chérie-Louise Couraud (1817–1880), with whom he lived for his remaining years.<ref>[https://data.bnf.fr/en/14985032/cherie_couraud/ "Chérie Couraud"], Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 11 September 2021</ref> For the Théâtre-Lyrique, the revived incarnation of his failed Opéra-National, Adam wrote the successful ''[[Si j'étais roi]]'', first given in September 1852. In that year he produced six new works, enabling him to clear all his debts.<ref name=grove/>

During the last three years of his life Adam continued to compose prolifically. His late works include what Forbes rates as one of his finest ballets, ''[[Le corsaire|Le Corsaire]]'', based on a poem by [[The Corsair|Byron]]; it was presented at the Opéra in January 1856, after a year's preparation. His final stage work, the one-act [[opérette]] ''Les Pantins de Violette'' (Violette's Puppets) was given at the [[Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens]] on 29 April 1856. Four nights later Adam died in his sleep, at the age of 52.<ref name=grove/> He was buried in the [[Montmartre Cemetery]].<ref>[https://www.landrucimetieres.fr/spip/spip.php?article18 "Adam, Adolphe"], Cimetières de France et d'ailleurs. Retrieved 15 September 2021</ref>