Meilhac, Henri

OPERA LIBRETTIST, DRAMATIST (FRANCE)
BORN 23 Feb 1832, Paris: 4e - DIED 6 Jul 1897, Paris: 8e
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Cimetière de Montmartre, 20 Avenue Rachel (division 21)

Henri Meilhac studied at the collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris. He worked in a bookstore, worked as a draftsman under the name of Thalin and he wrote articles for newspapers and pieces for comedies and vaudevilles. In 1860 he met Ludovic Halévy and they started a collaboration that lasted for twenty years. They cooperated on the libretto for Bizet's "Carmen".

Meilhac is also closely linked to Jacques Offenbach, who often used librettos that were written by him and Halévy. Among these collaborations were "La Belle Hélène" (1864, with Halévy, starring Hortense Schneider), "Barbe-bleue" (1866, with Halévy), "La Vie parisienne" (1866, with Halévy) and "La Périchole" (1868, with Halévy).

With Philippe Gille he wrote the libretto for Massenet's "Manon" (1884). He received the Legion of Honor in 1884. In 1888 he was elected into the Académie-Française. He died in Paris in 1897.

Related persons
• cooperated with Halévy, Ludovic
• successor at the Académie française of Labiche, Eugène
• worked for Offenbach, Jacques

Events
19/1/1884Premiere of Massenet's opera "Manon" at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille after the novel "L'Histoire du chevalier Des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut" (1731) by Antoine Prévost. Marie Heilbron was Manon Lescaut and Jean Alexandra Talazac was the chevalier des Grieux. Adèle Rémy was Rosette. [Heilbron, Marie, vicomtesse de la Panouse][Talazac, Jean Alexandre]

Images

The grave of Henri Meilhac at the Montmartre Cimetière, Paris.
Picture by Androom (05 Nov 2017)

 

Sources
Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909
Henri Meilhac - Wikipedia (EN)
Manon (opéra) - Wikipédia (FR)


Meisel, Will

Published: 08 Dec 2019
Last update: 21 Sep 2025