The French composer Jules Massenet (1842 – 1912), best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. By the time of his death, Massenet was regarded by many critics as old-fashioned and unadventurous although his two best-known operas, Manon and Werther, remained popular in France and abroad. After a few decades of neglect, his works began to be favourably reassessed during the mid-20th century, and many of them have since been staged and recorded.