Grétry, André Ernest Modeste

Grétry, André Ernest Modeste (1741-1813), Belgian composer, born in Liège. He was the leading composer of French opéra comique of his era. Among his greatest successes were Zémire et Azor (1771) and L'Amant Jaloux (1778), although his large, serious operas on classical subjects, such as Andromaque (1780), were generally less successful. He was greatly admired by Robespierre and, later, by Napoleon, who granted him a pension. Many of his operas were designed to appeal to the audiences of Revolutionary France, although he also produced piano sonatas and string quartets.