Adam, Adolphe
Adam, Adolphe (1803–56),French composer, who worked in the tradition of the Opéra Comique. Adam's musical compositions were influenced by François Auber and François‐Adrien Boieldieu. Among the 53 works that he produced, the most significant are the operas Le Postillon de Longjumeau (The Coachman of Longjumeau, 1836) and Si j'étais roi (If I Were King, 1852) and, above all, the ballet Giselle ou les Willis (1841), based on a story by Heinrich Heine that was adapted by Théophile Gautier and Vernoy de Saint‐Georges for the ballet. This fairy tale focuses on Albrecht, Duke of Schlesia, who falls in love with the peasant girl Giselle. When Giselle learns from Albrecht's companion that the duke is already engaged, she dances with him in great desperation and kills herself with his dagger. She is then received by Myrtha, the queen of the...
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