LOUISE BERTIN – A FORGOTTEN FIGURE OF FRENCH MUSICAL ROMANTICISM

Abstract

The relevance of the study is determined by the appeal to the figure of the composer Louise Bertin, little known in European musicology, who was a significant person in the cultural life of Paris in the 19th century. The operas she created were staged on the capital's stages and caused controversial reviews, but were later forgotten. The present demands a restoration of historical justice to Louise Bertin and an understanding of her place in the French operatic culture.
The novelty of the research lies in the study of the life and work of Louise Bertin, in establishing the details of her biography, as well as in focusing on the only opera libretto by Victor Hugo. The purpose of the article is to investigate the creative path of Louise Bertin and to reveal the reasons for the long-term oblivion of her legacy.
Research results. It turned out that Louise Bertin came from an influential family, her father was the director of the Paris publication «Journal des Débats» and gave her daughter a good education. Based on the decipherment of Victor Hugo's handwritten letters addressed to Louise Bertin, the collaboration between the two artists on the opera «La Esmeralda» is highlighted. Based on the musical periodicals of Paris and the memoirs of Bertin's contemporaries, the process of preparing the opera «La Esmeralda» for the premiere at the Royal Academy of Music is analyzed.
Critical feedback on the production of the opera and positive assessments by contemporaries are given.