Habeneck, François-Antoine

Habeneck, François-Antoine, eminent French conductor; b. Mézières, Jan. 22, 1781; d. Paris, Feb. 8, 1849. His father, a native of Mannheim and a member of a regimental band, taught him the violin. In 1800 he entered the Paris Cons., where he studied violin with Baillot. In 1804 he became a violinist in the orch. of the Opéra-Comique. Shortly thereafter he joined the orch. of the Paris Opéra, becoming principal violin in 1817. From 1806 to 1815 he conducted the student orch. at the Paris Cons., and also taught violin there (1808-16; 1825-48). From 1824 to 1831 he was premier chef (with Valentino) of the Paris Opéra, holding that post alone from 1831 to 1846. During his tenure there he conducted the premieres of Guillaume Tell, La Juive, Les Huguenots, and Benvenuto Cellini.In 1828 he founded the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris, which initially consisted of an orch. of 86 musicians and a chorus of 79 singers (the average complement of orch. members was 60). At his first concert on March 9, 1828, he conducted Beethoven’s Eroica Sym. He subsequently championed Beethoven’s syms. in his concerts, giving the first Paris performance of the 9^th Sym. on March 27, 1831. Under his guidance the orch. became the finest in its day, gaining the praise of such musicians as Mendelssohn and Wagner. He led it for 20 years, conducting his last concert on April 16, 1848. A pioneering figure among conductors, Habeneck retained many of the characteristics of the earlier violin- leader type of conductor: for instance, he used the violin part, with other instruments cued in, instead of a full score, he directed with a violin bow, and, at the beginning of his career, he played along with his musicians. Nevertheless, he assumed a foremost place among the conductors of his era. He was also a composer, but his works are not significant. With Isouard and Benincori he wrote an opera, Aladin ou La Lampe merveilleuse (Paris Opéra, Feb. 6, 1822). He also composed 2 violin concertos and other violin music, and publ, a Méthode théorique et pratique de violon (Paris, 1835).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire