Albert Carré

Albert Carré (; 22 June 1852 in Strasbourg – 12 December 1938 in Paris) was a French theatre director, opera director, actor and librettist. He was the nephew of librettist Michel Carré (1821–1872) and cousin of cinema director Michel Carré (1865–1945). His wife was the French soprano Marguerite Carré (1880–1947).

For over 50 years Albert Carré was a central personality in the theatrical and musical life of Paris.

Life and work

Leaving Alsace for Paris in 1870, Carré studied drama at the Paris Conservatoire, winning a 2nd prize in comedy, and was engaged at the Théâtre du Vaudeville, leading to a successful career as an actor, before becoming co-director of the Vaudeville in Paris and later the Théâtre-Libre and the Comédie-Française.

He left the Vaudeville to become director of the Opéra in Nancy, where he also helped institute a regular season of symphony concerts in the Salle Poirel from 1889.

Carré's main contribution to operatic history was made as director of the Opéra-Comique, a post he held from 1898 to 1914 and then again from 1919 to 1925 (co-director with Émile and Vincent Isola). He worked to raise the musical standards of the Opéra-Comique and was responsible for the premieres of major operas by French composers, commissioning Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Gustave Charpentier's Louise and Dukas's Ariane et Barbe-bleue, and works by Reynaldo Hahn, Alfred Bruneau and Georges Hüe.

He produced the first French performances of several Italian operas, including Tosca (13 October 1903) and Madama Butterfly (28 December 1906), and mounted many other important new productions, including Carmen (8 December 1898).

He was named a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 1892, an Officier in 1901, and a Commandeur in 1918.

Works La Basoche, opéra-comique in 3 acts, music by André Messager, (Opéra-comique, 30 May 1890) Faust en ménage, fantaisie lyrique in one act, music by Claude Terrasse, (Théâtre de la Potinière, 5 January 1924) La montagne enchantée, pièce fantastique by Émile Moreau and Carré, music by André Messager and Xavier Leroux, 1897 Frétillon, opéra-comique in 3 acts and 4 tableaux with songs by Béranger and book by Albert Carré. (Théâtre municipal de Strasbourg, 5 March 1927) Le roi bossu, opéra-comique in one act 17 March 1932. Music by Elsa Barraine Le Docteur Jo-Jo, adapted as Dr Bill, a three-act farce for the English stage by Hamilton Aide

Non-theatre works Les théâtres en Allemagne et en Autriche, 1889 Les engagés volontaires alsaciens-lorrains pendant la guerre, Flammarion, 1923 L'Opéra-Comique connu et inconnu, 1925 Souvenirs de théâtre, Plon, 1950 .