Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht

Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht (17 September 1880 – 14 February 1965) was a French composer, conductor and writer.

Inghelbrecht was born in Paris, the son of a viola-player. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and made his debut as a conductor in 1908 at the Théâtre des Arts.

Inghelbrecht entered the Conservatoire aged 7 and studied solfege, harmony and violin. At the aged of 16 he was expelled when caught playing the violin in local cafes. Around this time he was appointed second violin at the Concerts de l'Opéra; his friend Pierre Monteux, then conductor of the Concerts Berlioz, would use him as a substitute – all of which gave him important experience.

In 1908 he conducted the first performance of Florent Schmitt's La tragédie de Salomé which was a success and led to more engagements with leading musicians, including acting as chorus master for the first performance of Claude Debussy's Le martyre de Saint Sébastien. In 1913 he was appointed as director of the new Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, inaugurated on 2 April. In 1919 Inghelbrecht conducted the first performance of André Caplet's arrangement of Debussy's La Boite a joujoux; he also founded the Concerts Pleyel devoted to music of the 16th to 18th centuries. In 1921 he conducted the premiere of Les mariés de la tour Eiffel, a ballet by five of the members of Les six.

Inghelbrecht was music director of the Opéra-Comique in 1924–25, where he conducted Manon, a new production of Tristan und Isolde, Pelléas et Mélisande, Masques et bergamasques, and Pénélope; he also conducted several ballets including the premiere of his own Jeux de Couleurs. From 1928 to 1932 conducted the Concerts Pasdeloup and briefly held the directorship of the Opera d'Alger in 1929.

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