Titus-Charles Constantin (7 January 1835 – 27 October 1891) was a French conductor, violinist and composer.

Career

Born in

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

, Constantin studied at the Paris Conservatoire, entering the composition class of

Ambroise Thomas Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas ''Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet (opera), Hamlet'' (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the C ...

in June 1858. His compositions include cantatas, a ballet and several orchestral works. But Constantin was better known as a conductor. He was music director of Louis Martinet's Théâtre des Fantaisies-Parisiennes from 1865 where he revived rare operas by

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

, Donizetti, Weber, Hérold, Monsigny and Philidor. He also completed and conducted the stage premiere of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''

L'Oca del Cairo ' (''The Goose of Cairo'' or ''The Cairo Goose'', K. 422) is an incomplete Italian opera buffa in three acts, begun by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in July 1783 but abandoned in October. The complete libretto by Giambattista Varesco remains. Mozart ...

'' (as ''L'Oie de Caire'') on 6 June 1867 at the Théâtre des Fantaisies-Parisiennes; his version was later revived elsewhere. In 1871–1872 he was conductor of the

Théâtre Lyrique The Théâtre Lyrique () was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Paris Opera, Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien (1801–1878), Théâtre-Italien). ...

, when that company was being managed by Martinet and performing at the Théâtre de l'Athénée on rue Scribe. Constantin was then engaged by Daudé as musical director at the Casino in Rue Cadet from September 1871. He conducted the orchestra in the premier run of '' L'Arlésienne'' by Alphonse Daudet with incidental music by Bizet.Mina Kirstein Curtiss: ''Bizet and his World'' (New York: Vienna House, 1974). Constantin also directed the orchestra at the Théâtre de la Renaissance from March 1873 and was music director at the Paris

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

from the death of Adolphe Deloffre until September 1876. In the 1870s he conducted at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and at the

Teatro Nacional de São Carlos The ''Teatro Nacional de São Carlos'' () (''National Theatre of Saint Charles'') is an opera house in Lisbon, Portugal. It was opened on June 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I as a replacement for the Tejo Opera House, which was destroyed in the 1755 ...

in Lisbon. His later career was centred on

Royan Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; ) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the Departments of France, department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Capital of the Côte de Beauté, Royan is one of the mai ...

and Pau, where he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantin, Charles 1835 births 1891 deaths 19th-century French classical composers 19th-century French conductors (music) Conservatoire de Paris alumni French male composers French male conductors (music)