Auber, Daniel-François-Espr 01/29/1782 - 05/12/1871

Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1782-1871) was a French composer. He was born in Caen in Normandy, and at first, following his parents' wishes, trained as a salesman in London. When he returned to Paris in 1803 Luigi Cherubini encouraged him to compose music for the stage. Daniel Auber scored his first public success with a 3-act opéra-comique "La bergère châtelaine" ("The Shepherdess Noblewoman") in 1820 and from then on he held a leading position in the field. In 1842 he was appointed Director of the Paris Conservatory and later imperial kapellmeister under Napoleon III (1857). He died at the age of 89 in Paris and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.



He achieved lasting successes with such works as Fra Daviolo (1831), Le domino noir (1837) and Les diamants de la couronne (1847).



One of his most significant and dramatic works is La muette de Portici: the tenor-baritone duet in Act II supposedly set off a patriotic fervour that precipitated the Belgian struggle for independence from Holland in 1830.



Auber's last work was produced in 1868, when he was 87 years old.