Adam, Charles Adolphe

Adolphe Charles Adam (24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle (1844) and Le corsaire (1856, his last work), his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau (1836), Le toréador (1849) and Si j’étais roi (1852, often regarded as his finest work), and his Christmas carol “Minuit, chrétiens!” (“O Holy Night”) (1847). Adam was also a noted teacher. Léo Delibes was among his pupils.