Scribe Eugène Playwright Librettist (1 results)

8vo. 1¼ pp. on bifolium. With autograph address. To the the playwright Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier, called Mélesville (1787-1865), about the libretto of the opera "Lambert Simnel" that the two writers co-authored. Writing from his château in northern France, Scribe thanks his friend for a favour and complains that he cannot write as fast as he used to due to his age. He announces his return to Paris where he will write the prose and go over some scenes: "Merci, mon cher ami, merci mille fois de toutes les peines que vous avez prises pour moi. elles ne m'ont pas étonnées, car il y a longtemps que j'ai l'habitude de votre amitié, mais elles m'ont fait grand plaisir et maintenant je voudrais etre a meme de vous rendre la pareille. ainsi ne craignez pas de vous mettre en voyage quand vous aurez un ouvrage en répetition et que je serai à paris. je croiais ici et comme autrefois expedier en quinze jours ma comedie en cinq actes. il n'y a pas moyen! je me fais vieux et ma plume aussi elle ne va plus si vite et il en faudra au moins tout le mois si encore j'en viens à bout. en attendant, me voilà encore à avoir recours à vous - avancer à vos moments perdus, les morceaux de musique du 2de et 3me acte de Symnel et moi à mon retour j'écrirai toute la prose, ce qui me fatigue moins. et puis je revenai dans le premier acte les deux scenes qui me semblent devoir etre refaites [.]". - The largely forgotten opera by Scribe, Mélesville and the composer Hyppolite Monpou premiered on September 14, 1843 at the Opéra-Comique. Monpou had died two years earlier on 10 August 1841 - a premature death that is largely attributed to excessive labour. In the contract for "Lambert Simnel" a tight deadline was imposed on Monpou, and despite his health problems no delay had been granted. The score to the third act was subsequently completed by Adolphe Adam (1803-56). As Scribe mentions compositions for the third act, the letter probably dates to 1842, one year after Monpou's death, but well before the premiere. - On stationery with embossed initials. With tear from broken seal.