Paul Bastide
Paul Adrien Bastide (6 April 1879 – 18 August 1962) was a French conductor and composer. Career. Paul Bastide was born at Quimper and studied at the University of Aix-en-Provence and the Paris Conservatoire (with Pessard and Massenet), winning a first prize in harmony. His first professional work was as chorus master in Marseille from 1898, and gained early conducting experience also in Cairo and the Hague. He also conducted the premiere of the three-act version of "Les Armaillis" by Gustave Doret at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva in 1913. From 1919–38 Bastide was the musical  director of the opera house in Strasbourg, conducting "Samson et Dalila" at the reopening on 8 March 1919 after the German occupation of Alsace. He returned again after the Second World War, from 1945–48, reopening with "Carmen" on 16 November 1945 and conducting notable productions of "Béatrice et Bénédict", and "Martine" by Henri Rabaud (premiere). From 1945 to 1950 he was also music director of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. Bastide was music director at Vichy from the 1920s, and at the Opéra de Marseille from 1941–45. Bastide was Director of Music at the Opéra-Comique in Paris from 1932–36, making  his debut with "Carmen". Premieres there conducted by him included "Tout Ank Amon" (1934) and "Gargantua" (1935), and the French premiere of "Frasquita" (1933). He supervised the centennial revival of "Le Pré aux clercs" (1932) and new productions of "Tarass Boulba", "Don Quichotte" (with Chaliapin) and "The Marriage of Figaro". He returned to the Salle Favart as head of music studies from 1948-52. He conducted "Louise" in some performances of the 50th anniversary run in 1950 at the Opéra-Comique, and the following year in Marseille. At the Opéra he conducted "la Flûte enchantée" in 1949 and "Pénélope" in  1951. Bastide became a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1928. He died in Paris. Compositions. Several operas by Bastide were staged in France: "Idylle à l'Etoile" (Marseille, 11 January 1899), "L'Amour magicien" (opéra-comique in one act, words and music by Bastide, premiered in Toulouse February 1903), "Médée" (The Hague, 1911), "Le Gentil Bernard" (Vichy, 22 July 1919), "Monsieur de Pourceaugnac" (opéra-bouffe in three acts, words by Pajol after Molière, premiere Strasbourg 5 February 1921), "La Vannina" (Rouen, 29 January 1926), "Oedipe-Roi de Sophocle" (Rouen, 21 February 1936), "La Divine épopée" (poème lyrique in five acts, premiere  at the Opéra de Marseille on 25 March 1943), and "Jeanne d’Arc" (1949).