Henri Charles Chivot (; 13 November 1830 – 18 September 1897) was a French writer and playwright, mostly known as an operetta librettist.
Biography Henri Chivot was born in Paris on 13 November 1830.O’Connor, Patrick. "Chivot, Henri Charles", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2002 He worked, successively, as a clerk, a lawyer, an employee of the Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean railway, and later the head of that company's Paris office."Theatres", Le Figaro, 19 September 1897, p. 3 He wrote his first play in collaboration with Marc-Michel – (A Trilogy of Trousers), a comic one-act vaudeville, which was performed at the in 1855. His next production, (Under a Shed, 1857), a one-act vaudeville like its predecessor, was his first solo play. He continued to write comedies and dramas, mainly in collaboration with his friend Alfred Duru. His plays were presented at the Théâtre des Variétés, the Palais-Royal, the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques and other houses.
From 1865 Chivot became a librettist and in collaboration, particularly with Duru, he wrote more than forty librettos for operettas or opéras comiques for composers famous in the second half of the 19th century. Of these, according to Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the ones that have held their place in the French repertory most successfully are Offenbach's , Audran's and and Lecocq's . Other composers for whom Chivot and Duru wrote were Hervé, Franz von Suppé and Robert Planquette. He said that he modelled his writing on that of Eugène Scribe, Eugène Labiche and Félix-Auguste Duvert, taking note of their careful construction and theatrical craft. After Duru died in 1889, Chivot continued to write for the theatre, and was working on a new piece for the Palais-Royale at the time of his own death.
Chivot had two daughters and one son, the military painter . He died at his home in Le Vésinet, near Paris on 18 September 1897, aged 66.
Works 1866: Zilda ou la Nuit des dupes, written with Vernoy de St-Georges, for Friedrich von Flotow In constant collaboration with Alfred Duru for: Hervé, 1866: Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde Charles Lecocq 1868: Fleur-de-Thé 1869: Gandolfo 1872: Les cent vierges Edmond Audran 1879: Les noces d'Olivette 1880: La Mascotte 1882: Gillette de Narbonne 1884: Le Grand Mogol Jacques Offenbach 1868: L'Ile de Tulipatan 1873: 1878: Madame Favart 1879: La Fille du tambour-major; Robert Planquette 1887: Surcouf
References
External links List of his works Henri Chivot on List of works by Chivot at the Index to Opera and Ballet Sources Online