Favart, Charles-Simon

Favart, Charles-Simon, French librettist and impresario; b. Paris, Nov. 13, 1710; d. Belleville, near Paris, March 12, 1792. He publ. satirical plays as a youth. After a successful performance of one of his vaudevilles at the Opera-Comique in Paris, he was appointed stage man-ager there and in 1758 became its director, a post he retained until 1769; its theater was named in his honor in 1781. In 1745 he married Marie Favart . He wrote about 150 librettos, and also was the author of Les Amours de Bastien et Bastienne (1753), which was used by Mozart in a German version for his early Singspiel Bastien und Bastienne (1768).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

Favart, Charles-Simon (b Paris, 1710; d Belleville, 1792). Fr. librettist, composer, and impresario. Stage-manager at Opéra-Comique (which was called Salle Favart after him) 1743–55, writing and adapting works for it. Dir., Comédie-Italienne 1758 to 1762, when it merged with Opéra- Comique. Wrote over 150 opera libs. for composers incl. Grétry, Gluck, and Philidor.