His 'Méditation' has almost become a 'hit', his operas 'Manon' and 'Werther' are part of the repertoire of all major opera houses – and yet, the composer Jules Massenet (1842–1912) has remained rather unknown up to now. But this is going to change now: On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Massenet's death, Stefan Schmidl presents the first biography of this grand seigneur of the French opera in the German language. He shows that Massenet's compositions were a lot more complex than 'Manon' and 'Werther' suggest – and presents a new view of the music history of the 19th and early 20th centuries.Stefan Schmidl is a research fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Apart from teaching and lecturing activities, he has published papers on topics in musicology, cultural science and media science.