Glisar, Albert

Glisar, Albert, Belgian composer; b. Antwerp (of German- Belgian parents), Dec. 26, 1808; d. Asnieres, near Paris, June 15, 1869. He studied for a short time (1830) with Reicha in Paris. Returning to Antwerp, he brought out his opera Le Manage impossible (Brussels, March 4, 1833), and obtained a government subsidy for further study in Paris. On April 26, 1836, he produced Sarah at the Opera-Comique; then L’An mille (June 23, 1837), La Suisse a Trianon (March 8, 1838), Lady Melvil (Nov. 15, 1838, with Flotow), L’Eau merveilleuse (Jan. 31, 1839, with Flotow), Le Naufrage de la Meduse (May 31, 1839, with Flotow and Pilati), Les Travestissements (Nov. 16, 1839), and L’Opéra á la cour (July 16, 1840, with Boieldieu Jr.). In 1840 he went to Naples for further serious study under Mercadante; returning to Paris in 1848, he brought out Gilles ravisseur (Feb. 21, 1848), Les Porcherons (Jan. 12, 1850), Bonsoir, M. Pantalon (Feb. 19, 1851), Le Carillonneur de Bruges (Feb. 20, 1852), Les Amours du diable (March 11, 1853), Le Chien du jardinier (Jan. 16, 1855), Voyage autour de ma chambre (Aug. 12, 1859), Le Joaillier de St. James (9 songs from Lady Melvil, Feb. 17, 1862), La Chatte merveilleuse (March 18,1862), Les Begaiements d’amour (Dec. 8, 1864), and Les Douze Innocentes (Oct. 19, 1865). He left, besides, 12 finished and unfinished operas; also dramatic scenes, over 50 romances, etc. His statue (by Brackeleer) was placed in the vestibule of the Antwerp Theater in 1870.

Bibliography

A. Pougin, A. G. (Paris, 1870).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire