Adrien Boieldieu

Francois-Adrien Boieldieu (1775 to 1834) was a French composer born in Rouen, mainly of operas, and often called the French Mozart. His reputation rests largely on his operas, though his Harp Concerto in C (1800 to 1801) is regarded as a masterpiece of the harp repertory. He received his first musical education from the choirmaster and organist of Rouen cathedral and composed his earliest works to texts by his father, with immediate success. He moved to Paris during the Revolution, worked first as a piano tuner, and won extraordinary success at the Opera-Comique, then served as court composer to the Russian tsar in Saint Petersburg from 1804 to 1810. Described as the spiritual heir of Andre Gretry, he favoured melody without excess ornament, and from 1820 he was professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire, where Adolphe Adam was among his pupils.