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41-544: Habeneck was born at Mézières , the son of a musician in a French regimental band. During his early youth, Habeneck was taught by his father, and at the age of ten played concertos in public. In 1801, he entered the Conservatoire de Paris , where he studied under Pierre Baillot and obtained the violin first prize in 1804. In the same year, he joined the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique , but shortly afterwards moved to that of

82-417: A Konzertmeister held a somewhat less senior position. Equivalent positions existed in other European countries and were referred to with equivalent names. In Finnish kapellimestari is still the primary word used of conductors. (listed chronologically by date of birth) In contemporary German, the term "Kapellmeister" has become less common than Dirigent (conductor). When used today it designates

123-525: A Kapellmeister but was supported by a somewhat unreliable combination of noble patronage, publication, and concert income. Mozart never was a Kapellmeister in the sense given above. In 1787, he was given a paid position in the court of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II as Kammercompositeur (chamber composer), but authority in matters musical at the court was exercised primarily by Antonio Salieri . In reviews, diaries, and advertising, Mozart

164-489: A biennial event in 2011. The town is also home to the world headquarters of UNIMA as well as the International Puppetry Institute (French: Institut International de la Marionnette), which is housed in a historic building featuring a giant automaton of a puppeteer who performs a puppet show every hour on the hour. The École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette (ESNAM), a college which offers

205-539: A higher education in puppetry, is also situated in Charleville-Mézières. The poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891) was born in Charleville. The Rimbaud museum  [ fr ] is located in the old water mill ( Le Vieux Moulin ) to the north of the town. Charleville served as the starting location for two seasons of the travel competition show Jet Lag: The Game . The local network of public buses within

246-683: A large public library, and a museum of natural history. The inhabitants of Mézières were known as Macerians ( Macériens or Macériennes ). By the mid-19th century, the two towns were linked by a suspension bridge . It was occupied by the German Empire in the First World War and by Nazi Germany in World War II - the town served as the center of the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL) for 26 days during World War I. The present commune

287-555: A letter of introduction to both Henri Duponchel, the director of the Opéra, and Habeneck, its chief conductor. Settled in Paris, in September 1839, and fortified with Meyerbeer's letter, Wagner paid a call on both men. Whilst Duponchel dismissed Wagner without emotion, Habeneck received him with 'more than just a perfunctory show of interest' and expressed a willingness to let his orchestra play through

328-510: A matter of honour, despite it being a piece they couldn't manage. As a teenager Wagner had, in 1831, had made a piano arrangement of the Ninth but the Gewandhaus performances threw him into such doubt and confusion about Beethoven's merit that he temporarily abandoned his own study of the composer. It was not until a performance of the D minor symphony in Paris in late 1839 (or more likely, early 1840) at

369-604: A performance of Beethoven's ninth symphony upon which "the scales fell from my eyes". Wagner arrived in Boulogne, France in August 1839 determined to succeed as a dramatic composer. In advance, Wagner had written to Meyerbeer requesting an interview, and although Meyerbeer had failed to reply, Wagner considered it good fortune to discover that Meyerbeer happened to be staying in Boulogne at the time arrival from England. Subsequently, Wagner called, paid his due respects, and Meyerbeer promised

410-423: A piece of Wagner's at some later date. Unfortunately, Wagner records, the only orchestral piece available was his "strange" Columbus overture which Habeneck graciously accepted to consider. When an opportunity to perform the overture materialised, Habeneck 'dryly, but not without kindness', warned Wagner that the piece was too "vague". Nevertheless, and against Habeneck's good advice, Wagner persevered. Rehearsals with

451-490: A publication now in the public domain :  Gilman, D. C. ; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Habeneck" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. Charleville-M%C3%A9zi%C3%A8res Charleville-Mézières ( French pronunciation: [ʃaʁləvil mezjɛʁ] ) is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department , Grand Est . Charleville-Mézières

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492-401: A sense of routine or failure to project glamour: "a Kapellmeister now describes a pale, meek figure beating time. A policeman on duty at the podium directing the musical traffic, no more." In fact, Thielemann, who is fully aware of the historical usage of the term, would himself prefer to be called a "Kapellmeister": "it implies such virtues as knowledge of a work, great ability, and dedication to

533-424: A short growing season . In the table and graph below, data for 1962 and earlier refer to the old commune of Charleville, before the merger with Étion, Mézières, Mohon and Montcy-Saint-Pierre. Puppetry is an important part of the cultural life of Charleville-Mézières, which is called the "World Capital of Puppetry Arts". An international puppet festival has been held there every three years since 1961, and became

574-823: A violent quarrel, resulting in Habeneck's dismissal, and Henri Valentino was put in charge of Olimpie . Habeneck became the founding conductor of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire in 1828. By means of these concerts, he introduced Beethoven 's symphonies into France. He composed two concertos , compositions for the violin, and several songs, but published only a few of his compositions. Among his pupils were Jean-Delphin Alard , Hubert Léonard , Léon Le Cieux and Édouard Lalo . Hector Berlioz , in his memoirs , denounced Habeneck for incompetence in conducting Berlioz's own Requiem . Richard Wagner credits Habeneck with

615-543: Is also common, which results in strong cold snaps compared to the oceanic climates further west. This results in overnight temperatures below −10 °C (14 °F) happening during most winters as the cold air descends at night. Similar patterns replicate year round, causing Charleville-Mezières to have cooler summer nights than Nordic coastal areas near the Arctic Circle . The intermittent frosts in May and September also result in

656-579: Is located on the banks of the river Meuse . Charleville and Mézières were originally separate communities on opposite banks of the Meuse , about 1.2 km (0.75 mi) from one another. Charleville was founded by Charles Gonzaga , the 8th duke of Mantua , in 1606. Its inhabitants were known as Carolopolitans ( Carolopolitains or Carolopolitaines ). It was prosperous from the 17th century, although its fortifications were dismantled under Louis XIV in 1687 and it passed into French hands in 1708. It

697-700: The Ardenne Métropole , TAC, is operated by RATP Dev . The Charleville-Mézières railway station offers connections to Paris (by TGV), Reims, Lille, Metz and regional destinations. OFC Charleville represent the town at association football . Étoile de Charleville-Mézières is a basketball club. Charleville-Mézières is twinned with: Kapellmeister Kapellmeister ( / k ə ˈ p ɛ l m aɪ s t ər / kə- PEL -my-stər , US also / k ɑː ˈ -/ kah- , German: [kaˈpɛlˌmaɪstɐ] ), from German Kapelle (chapel) and Meister (master), literally "master of

738-455: The Köppen-Geiger climate classification , Charleville-Mézières features a temperate oceanic climate ( Cfb ) with strong continental influences ( Dfb ). The climate is vastly affected by the low mountain Ardennes range nearby. The proximity results in moisture being trapped and excessive precipitation occurs as a result when compared to other parts of northern France. Temperature inversion

779-672: The Paris Opera . He conducted student concerts at the Conservatoire from 1806 onwards. On 1 June 1817, Habeneck became an assistant conductor ( chef d'orchestre adjoint ) of the Paris Opera, a post he held until 1 January 1819, when he was replaced by J.-J. Martin. On 1 April 1820, on a trial basis, Henri Valentino replaced J.-J. Martin as second conductor ( deuxième chef d'orchestre, à titre d'essai ), but in August, Valentino and Habeneck were jointly designated successors to Rodolphe Kreutzer ,

820-557: The best houses in Germany, a number of problems with the clarity of the performance affected Wagner so deeply that he was forced once again to the study of this "marvellous work". The result of the study was the 1873 essay, On Performing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony . Again, and now over forty years since that memorable Paris concert performance, Habeneck's insight was the model for remedying the evil that Wagner had encountered in his own performance. In my view, clarity depends upon one thing only:

861-422: The chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in its meaning and is today used for denoting the leader of a musical ensemble, often smaller ones used for TV, radio, and theatres. In German-speaking countries during the approximate period 1500–1800, the word Kapellmeister often designated

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902-494: The director of music for a church. Thus, Georg Reutter was the Kapellmeister at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna , where his young choristers included both Joseph and Michael Haydn . Becoming a Kapellmeister was a mark of success for professional musicians. For instance, Joseph Haydn once remarked that he was glad his father (a wheelwright ) had lived long enough to see his son become a Kapellmeister. The term also implied

943-591: The director of music for a monarch or nobleman. For English speakers, it is this sense of the term that is most often encountered, since it appears frequently in biographical writing about composers who worked in German-speaking countries. During that period, in Italy, the position (Italian: maestro di capella ) largely referred to directors of music assigned to cathedrals and sacred institutions rather than those under royal or aristocratic patronage. A Kapellmeister position

984-494: The director or chief conductor of an orchestra or choir. It suggests involvement in orchestra or choir policy (for example, selecting repertoire, concert schedules, and guest conductors) as well as conducting. In military settings it refers to a bandmaster . The music director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra traditionally holds the old-fashioned title Gewandhauskapellmeister . In other German opera houses,

1025-489: The drastic bringing out of the melody. As I have pointed out elsewhere it is easier for French players than for German to penetrate the secret of performing these works: they were reared in the Italian school which regards melody, song, as the essence of all music. If by this means truly committed musicians have found the right way of performing works of Beethoven hitherto considered incomprehensible...we can hope their methods become

1066-412: The end of the 18th century, many of the nobility had declined in their economic power relative to the newly prosperous middle class. Eventually, the maintenance of a Kapelle became too expensive for most nobles, which led to a decline in the number of Kapellmeister positions. A well-known instance occurred in 1790, when Prince Anton Esterházy succeeded his father Nikolaus and dismissed almost all of

1107-527: The first conductor ( premier chef d'orchestre ), only to take effect, however, when Kreutzer left that position. In the meantime, on 1 November 1821, Habeneck became the administrative director of the Opera. On 1 December 1824, when Kreutzer retired as the conductor of the orchestra, Habeneck and Valentino became joint First Conductors, and Raphaël de Frédot Duplantys replaced Habeneck as the Opera's administrator. Valentino resigned on 1 June 1831, and Habeneck remained as

1148-496: The hands of the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra conducted by Habeneck that Wagner experienced his Damascene insight into the work's secret. He believed that he had heard the symphony for the first time, and as Beethoven himself had conceived it. Habeneck's success, Wagner stresses, was not attributable to genius, or for that matter conscientious diligence, although Habeneck had spent over two years studying and rehearsing

1189-432: The latter's extensive musical establishment. But Prince Anton was hardly alone in doing this; during this same period, "the steady decline in the number of orchestras supported by aristocratic families represented a ... change that affected all composers and their works." This was a difficult time for musicians, who needed to find new ways to support themselves. For instance, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) never worked as

1230-465: The norm. This central thought of Wagner's, derived from Habeneck's inspiring performance, influenced not only conductors in the nineteenth century but also Boulez (who concluded that what Wagner had to say about conducting, was correct and John Barbirolli who articulated that giving the true tempo and finding the work's melos was the key to the conductor in excelcis . Habeneck died in Paris in 1849. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

1271-561: The orchestra went badly, and the actual performance was deemed by Wagner a failure. Nearly thirty years later, in his 1869 tract On Conducting , Wagner complains that the glaring weaknesses of German orchestras are a direct result of the poor quality of Kapellmeisters in their role as conductors. Reflecting back on the late 1820s when Wagner lived in Leipzig, he recalls that every year the Gewandhaus orchestra performed Beethoven's 9th symphony as

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1312-409: The possession of considerable musical skill. When the 18th-century actor and musician Joachim Daniel Preisler heard the famous soprano Aloysia Weber ( Mozart 's sister-in-law) perform in her home, he paid her the following compliment in his diary: The well-known Mozardt is her brother-in-law and has taught her so well that she accompanies from a score and plays interludes like a Kapellmeister. By

1353-543: The right comprehension of the melos is the sole guide to the right tempo: these two things are inseparable: the one implies and qualifies the other. After the foundation stone for the Bayreuth Festpielhaus had been laid in May 1872, the assembled throng retired to the Margrave Opera House where Wagner conducted a performance of the D minor symphony. Despite the fact that Wagner had hand-picked the musicians from

1394-491: The sole first conductor until his retirement on 1 November 1846. During that time, he conducted the first performances of, among other operas, Robert le diable , La Juive , Les Huguenots and Benvenuto Cellini . According to the French music historian Arthur Pougin , Habeneck was initially the conductor responsible for the preparation of Spontini's Olimpie , but at one of the general rehearsals Habeneck and Spontini had

1435-594: The term generally refers to a deputy conductor reporting to the Generalmusikdirektor (general music director, usually also the chief conductor). An opera company may have several Kapellmeister, ranked as Erste Kapellmeister (First...), Zweite Kapellmeister (Second...), etc. The conductor Christian Thielemann has offered a nuanced account of the Dirigent / Kapellmeister distinction in contemporary usage. He suggests that "Kapellmeister" has unfairly acquired

1476-467: The then-ailing incumbent, Leopold Hofmann . This never took place, since Mozart died (December 1791) before Hofmann did (1793). Variant spellings capellmeister and capelle , to refer to the orchestra or choir, are sometimes encountered in English language works about composers who held the title. The word Hofkapellmeister specified that the Kapellmeister worked at a nobleman's court ( Hof );

1517-531: The work, but that Habeneck had "found the right tempo because he took infinite pains to get his orchestra to understand the melos of the symphony, and thus the orchestra had made the work sing. Later that year, in November–December 1840, Wagner published his well-known novella A Pilgrimage to Beethoven ( Eine Pilgerfahrt zu Beethoven ). Wagner defines melos as a singing style which shaped melodic phrases with rubato, tonal variation, and shifting accent, and

1558-577: Was a senior one and involved supervision of other musicians. Johann Sebastian Bach worked from 1717 to 1723 as Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen . Joseph Haydn worked for many years as Kapellmeister for the Esterházy family, a high-ranking noble family of the Habsburg monarchy . George Frideric Handel served as Kapellmeister for George, Elector of Hanover (who eventually became King George I of Great Britain ). A Kapellmeister might also be

1599-462: Was commonly referred to as (Herr) Kapellmeister Mozart . It seems that Mozart's prestige, along with the fact that he frequently appeared in public directing other musicians, led to the use of "Kapellmeister" as a term of respect. In April 1791, Mozart applied to become the Kapellmeister at St. Stephen's Cathedral and was designated by the City Council to take over this job following the death of

1640-464: Was established in 1966, the year after another commune, Le Theux , had been merged into Mézières. The entire resultant commune has a population of about 51,000. With an annual average of 10 °C (50 °F), Charleville-Mézières is generally the coolest city of France. Winters are long, cold and gloomy while summers are interchangeably warm or hot but sometimes, even in the middle of July, night temperatures can drop below 5 °C (41 °F). Under

1681-508: Was plundered by the Prussians in 1815. France's royal armaments factory was formerly located there and gave its name to the Charleville musket , before being relocated and divided between Tulle and Châtellerault . In the 19th century, the city continued to produce arms through private firms, as well as nails, hardware, wine, spirits, coal, iron, and slate. It boasted a spacious port, a theatre,

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