Quick Facts
CapricornBiography
Armand Liorat was the pen name of Georges Degas (10 January 1837 – 8 August 1898), a French playwright and librettist.
Life and career
Liorat was born in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, the son of Pierre André Constant Degas, a lawyer, and his wife Rose Elisabeth Hermance, née Berthault. He entered the civil service in the office of the préfecture of the Seine, and rose to be chief inspector of administrative finance. Away from his official duties he wrote song-lyrics, and sketches for cafés-concerts. For the spoken drama and the opera he adopted the pen name Amand Liorat and, either alone or in collaboration with writers such as William Busnach, Clairville, Paul Bocage, Prével, Ferrier, wrote a large number of operetta librettos.
As well as librettos for the lyric stage, Liorat wrote some serious drama, including La belle aux cheveux d'or (1882) in collaboration with Arthur Arnould.
Liorat died suddenly, shortly before his last work, Les quatre filles Aymon was put into production at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques.
Librettos
| Work | Co-author | Composer | Premiere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Un mariage au gros sel, opérette in 1 act | Frédéric Barbier | Eldorado, 10 July 1869 | |
| La belle Kalitcha, opérette in 1 act | Frédéric Wachs | Folies-Bergère, December 1872 | |
| La rosière d'ici, opéra bouffe in 3 acts | Léon Roques | Bouffes-Parisiens, 27 March 1873 | |
| Mariée depuis midi, 1 act "mêlée de chant" | William Busnach | Georges Jacobi | Marseille, 20 August 1873) |
| La leçon d'amour, opérette in 1 act | Frédéric Wachs | Bouffes-Parisiens, 14 September 1873 | |
| La liqueur d'or, opéra comique in 3 acts | William Busnach | Laurent de Rillé | Menus-Plaisirs, 11 December 1873 |
| Une pleine eau à chatou, opérette in 1 act | Frédéric Wachs | Folies-Bergère, 21 November 1874 | |
| De bric et de broc, revue in 4 acts | Clairville | Louis Varney | Athénée-Comique, 4 February 1876 |
| Kosiki, opérette in 3 acts | William Busnach | Charles Lecocq | Renaissance, 18 October 1876 |
| Le pont d'Avignon, opérette in 3 acts | Charles Grisart | Bouffes-Parisiens, 3 September 1878 | |
| Le petit abbé, musical sketch | Henri Bocage | Charles Grisart | Vaudeville, 9 October 1879) |
| Les poupées de l'infante, opéra comique in 3 acts | Henri Bocage | Charles Grisart | Folies-Dramatiques, 9 April 1881 |
| La laitière et le pot au lait, pièce in 1 act | William Busnach, | Frédéric Wachs | Palais-Royal, 1 May 1883 |
| Les noces improvisées, opéra comique in 3 acts | Albert Fonteny | Francis Chassaigne | Bouffes-Parisiens, 13 February 1886 |
| L'amour mouillé, opéra comique in 3 acts | Jules Prével, | Louis Varney | Nouveautés, 25 January 1887 |
| Le bossu, opéra comique in 4 acts | Henri Bocage, | Charles Grisart | Gaîté, 19 March 1888 |
| La vénus d'arles, opéra comique in 3 acts | Paul Ferrier | Louis Varney | Nouveautés, 30 January 1889 |
| Ma mie Rosette, opéra comique in 3 acts | Jules Prével | Paul Lacôme | Folies-Dramatiques, 4 February 1890 |
| La fille de l'air, opérette-féerie in 3 acts | Cogniard frères | Paul Lacôme | Folies-Dramatiques, 20 June 1890 |
| La fille de fanchon la vielleuse, opéra comique in 4 acts | William Busnach et Albert Fonteny | Louis Varney | Folies-Dramatiques, 3 November 1891 |
| Le cadeau de noces, opéra bouffe in 4 acts | Stop and Fernand Hue | Paul Lacôme | Bouffes-Parisiens, 20 January 1893) |
| Le petit bois, opérette in 1 act | Charles Grisart | Bouffes-Parisiens, 7 March 1893 | |
| La fille de paillasse, opérette in 3 acts | Louis Leloir, | Louis Varney | Folies-Dramatiques, 20 April 1894 |
| Les petites brebis, opérette in 2 acts | Louis Varney | Théâtre de Cluny, 5 June 1895 | |
| La falote, opérette in 3 acts | Maurice Ordonneau | Louis Varney | Folies-Dramatiques, 17 April 1896 |
| Le lézard, pièce in 1 act, mêlée de chant | William Busnach | Frédéric Toulmouche | Scala, 29 August 1896 |
| Inès Mendo, opéra in 3 acts | Pierre Decourcelle | Frédéric d'Erlanger | Royal Opera House, London, 10 July 1897 |
| Les quatre filles Aymon, opérette in 3 acts | Albert Fonteny | Paul Lacôme and Victor Roger | Folies-Dramatiques, 20 September 1898 |
- Source: Encyclopédie de l'art lyrique français.