Albert Vizentini, an enlightened theatre director

Dimitri was brought to the stage by Albert Vizentini (1841-1906), a man of great versatility, who was totally dedicated to opera. He was a violinist, conductor, composer, librettist and music writer. Later he worked as stage director with Albert Carré at the Opéra-Comique, where together they were responsible for the mise-en-scène of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, when it was premièred in 1902. He had seen and appreciated Victorin Joncières’s Sardanapale (1867) and Le Dernier Jour de Pompéi (1869) at the Théâtre-Lyrique, which had ceased to exist in 1871. In 1875, with a wealth of experience behind him, he launched into the hazardous adventure in the nineteenth century of creating and managing his own theatre, his ultimate aim being to revive and direct the Théâtre-Lyrique. When Jacques Offenbach, who was a friend of his, had become director of the Théâtre de la Gaîté in 1873, Vizentini had gone to work with him as his chef d’orchestre. This magnificent theatre, situated on the rue Papin, across from the Square des Arts et Métiers (now the Square Émile Chautemps), had opened its doors in 1862. It had a capacity of 2,000 and, despite some setbacks in the past, appeared to have all the prerequisites for artistic and financial success. Using his own resources, Albert Vizentini took out a lease on the theatre (in the name of ‘A. Vizentini et C[ompagn]ie’) and on 25 June 1875 obtained the directorship from Offenbach’s hands.