tion from Snel, principal first violin at the theatre, and afterwards at the Paris Conservatoire from Rodolphe and August Kreutzer, and in 1827 and 1828 he obtained the second and first violin prizes respectively. According to Fétis, Artôt then played in concerts in Brussels and London with the greatest success, and became for a time player in the various Parisian orchestras. He became famous as a soloist, and made tours through Belgium, Holland, Italy, Germany, etc. On June 3, 1839, on the same occasion that Mario first appeared in England, Artôt played at the Philharmonic a fantasia of his own for violin and orchestra, and was well received, rather on account of the delicacy and feeling of his playing and his remarkable execution, than from his tone, which was very small.[1] We do not find that he played at any other public concert, and this is borne out by a letter of August 6 of the same year from Berlioz to Liszt, wherein details are given concerning musical taste in London at the time, received from Batta, who had just returned from there, and whose mutual conversation he reports at length: 'I arrived too late, and it is the same with Artôt, who, despite his success at the Philharmonic, despite the incontestable beauty of his talent, has a tedious time of it.'[2] In 1843 he went to America, Cuba, etc., on a concert tour with Mme. Cinti-Damoreau, and while there he received the first symptoms of a lung disease. He never recovered, but died July 20, 1845, at Ville d'Avray near Paris.
Artôt's compositions for the violin include a concerto in A minor, various fantasias and airs with variations with piano or orchestral accompaniment, and, in MS. string quartets, and a quintet for piano and strings. 'He was, perhaps, the most finished and the most elegant of all the Rubini school of players; one of the handsomest men in our recollection; and much beloved, we are told, among his comrades for his gentleness and amiability.' (Athenæum, Aug. 2, 1845.)
ARTÔT, Marguérite Josephine Désirée Montagney, born July 21, 1835, at Paris, daughter of Jean Désiré Montagney Artôt, horn professor at the Brussels Conservatoire, niece both of the above and of Baugniet the Belgian portrait-painter. She was taught singing by Mme. Viardot-Garcia, and first appeared in concerts in Belgium, Holland, and England, viz. at a state concert June 19, 1857. In 1858 she was engaged at the Paris Opera, through Meyerbeer, where on Feb. 5 she made her début with great success as Fides, and subsequently played the heroine in a condensed version of Gounod's Sappho. In spite of praise lavished on her by many critics, among others by Berlioz in the Débats, Feb. 17, she abandoned the French in favour of the Italian stage. In 1859 she sang in opera in Italy, and at the end of the year at Berlin, on the opening of the Victoria Theatre, as a member of Lorini's Italian company. In that city she made a furore in the Barbiere and Cenerentola, in Trovatore, and even in the small part of Maddalena in 'Rigoletto,' from which time the greater part of her career has been passed in Germany both in Italian and German opera, she having in the meantime abandoned the mezzo for soprano parts. In 1859–60 she sang with great applause at the Philharmonic and at other concerts. In 1863 she sang at her Majesty's as Maria ('La Figlia') in which she made her début May 19th, as La Traviata, and as Adalgisa to the Norma of Titiens. In 1864 and 1866 she sang at the Royal Italian Opera in the first two parts, in 'Faust,' 'Figaro,' and the 'Barbiere,' but in spite of the great impression she invariably made, being an admirable and very complete artist, she never reappeared in England. On Sept. 15, 1869, she married at Sèvres the Spanish baritone Padilla-y-Ramos,[3] and with him has sung in Italian opera in Germany, Austria, Russia, and elsewhere, until her retirement. Among other parts she has played in German with great success the heroines in 'Domino Noir' and 'Les Diamants.' On March 22, 1887, she appeared with her husband in a scene from 'Don Juan,' performed for the Emperor's birthday at the Schloss at Berlin, in which city she has settled as a teacher of singing.
ASANTSCHEWSKY. Line 2, for 1839 (2nd time) read 1863. (Corrected in late editions.) See also ii. 735 b.
ASCHER, Joseph. Add day of death, June 20.
ASHDOWN & PARRY. See Wessel.
ASHLEY, John (p. 98 a). It seems certain that the performer on the bassoon was not the same as the assistant conductor of the commemoration of Handel. The 'Mr. Ashley of the Guards' who played the double bassoon on that occasion was most probably a brother of John Ashley's, named Jane, who was born in 1740 and died Apr. 5, 1809. John Ashley died March 2, 1805. [See vol. ii. 402 a, note 3.] His son, General Charles, took part with two of his brothers in the Handel Commemoration, and got into trouble by nailing the coat of some Italian violinist to his seat, and filling his violin with halfpence. (Dict. of Nat. Biog.) Add to the notice of John James Ashley that he was born in 1772, and died Jan. 5, 1815. Also that Richard Ashley was born in 1775 and died in 1836. (The late editions of this work give dates for these two members of the family, but they are only partially correct).
ASIOLI. Line 2. of article, for April read August. Line 11 from end of article, for May 26 read May 18. See also vol. ii. p. 329 a.
ASPULL, George. Add that he was born June 1813 at Manchester, and that he first
- ↑ Athenæum, June 8, 1880.
- ↑ 'Berlioz, Correspondence Inédite' (1879), p. 184.
- ↑ Padilla-y-Ramos, born 1842 at Murcia, studied under Mobellini of Florence, and has sung in Italian opera ever since. On Oct. 1, 1881, he first appeared with success in England as Hoel in 'Dinorah,' at a winter season at the Lyceum. He played in 1886 in the short but disastrous season at Her Majesty's, and in the autumn with Mapleson in the provinces, and was engaged for last season (1887) at Covent Garden Theatre.
