Édouard COLONNE

Judas Colonna, also known as Édouard Colonne

Born into a family of musicians in Bordeaux, Édouard Colonne joined the orchestra of the Théâtre-Lyrique when he arrived in Paris in 1855. Two years later, he enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire, where he won the premier prix for harmony (1858) and in violin (1863). A soloist at the Paris Opéra (1858-1867), he also played in the chamber music concerts organised by Lamoureux, and was a member of the orchestras for Pasdeloup’s Concerts Populaires and Danbé’s concerts at the Grand Hôtel. In 1873, the music publisher Georges Hartmann asked him to conduct the Concert National at the Théâtre de l’Odéon, then at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Despite the prestigious reputation of this institution, financial difficulties forced Colonne to form the orchestra into a society, the “Association artistique”, which became a direct rival of Pasdeloup’s Concerts Populaires. In 1878, during the Exposition Universelle, he conducted the ten official concerts. He subsequently toured in Portugal and Spain, then England, Germany and Russia. In 1903, he conducted the New York Philharmonic, attracting attention for the care with which he notated his desired phrasing on the orchestral parts. A passionate champion of contemporary French music, Colonne promoted young composers such as Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Fauré and d’Indy – although Germany was not excluded, as he also invited various kapellmeisters to France from across the Rhine. At the same time, he took great pains to revive the works of the past, like Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, which he conducted 177 times from 1877. His clear preference for Berlioz implied a desire to see him as the national genius, in opposition to Wagner, who was backed by Lamoureux.