Colonne, Édouard

Colonne, Édouard (ādär` kōlôn`), 1838–1910, French conductor and violinist. He appeared as a conductor in Europe and England and was for several years first violinist of the Paris Opéra. In 1873 he founded in Paris the Concert national, which later became known as the Colonne Concerts.

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Colonne, Édouard 

Born July 23, 1838, in Bordeaux; died Mar. 28, 1910, in Paris. French conductor, violinist, and public figure. Of Italian origin.

Colonne graduated in 1863 from E. Sauzay’s violin course at the Paris Conservatory. During 1858–67 he was concert master of the orchestra of the Paris Opera and was a member of the J. Pasdeloup String Quartet. He later conducted the Concerts Pasdeloup (1871). Colonne organized and directed the Concert National (1873, with the music publisher G. Hartmann) and the Concerts du Châtelet (1874; later known as Concerts Colonne), which, under his baton and direction until 1909, played an important role in the musical life of France.

Colonne’s performances of works by romantic composers, particularly H. Berlioz, met with great success, and he supported contemporary French composers, including J. Massenet, E. Lalo, and C. Franck. His conducting combined clarity and subtlety with emotionality and firmness. Colonne toured many countries and appeared in Russia for the first time in 1890.