François-Antoine HABENECK

Habeneck, more than anyone in France, and possibly in Europe, epitomised the modern conductor. After studying the violin under Pierre Baillot at the Paris Conservatoire (Premier Prix, 1804), he took up the position of principal violin and assistant conductor at the Paris Opéra (1816-18). He later became the institution’s administrative director (1821-24). He also conducted the orchestra of the Concert Spirituel (1818-28), where he presented several of Beethoven’s symphonies. He was premier chef at the Paris Opéra from 1825 until 1847, during which years he conducted the premières of many major operas, including Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable and Les Huguenots, Halévy’s La Juive and Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini. In 1828 he founded the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, which he conducted until 1848 and which, until his death the following year, built its programmes around the music of Beethoven: Habeneck played an important part in bringing Beethoven’s works to French audiences. The orchestra was soon reputed all over Europe. The many eyewitness accounts that have come down to us lay emphasis on Habeneck’s tenacity and his talent for bringing people together: Parisian critics of the time, his students (Elwart, Deldevez), but also composers such as Wagner and Mendelssohn, who met him during stays in Paris. And Berlioz too, of course, who, before he himself became a conductor, and before misunderstandings poisoned their relationship, regarded Habeneck – who conducted the premières of the Symphonie fantastique and the Requiem – as a model. Technically, Habeneck switched from the practice of conducting with the violin bow to using the baton. As a composer he left two concertos and several pieces for violin, and he published a violin method, the fruit of his years as a professor at the Conservatoire.