Antoine Dauvergne (1713-1797)
- Première concert, œuvre III (1751)
Performers: Gérard Cartigny Chamber Orchestra; Gérard Cartigny (conductor)
Further info: Antoine Dauvergne (1713-1797) - Concerts de Symphonies
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French composer, violinist and administrator. His father, Jacques
Dauvergne, was a musician and probably his first teacher. Antoine began
his career as a violinist in Moulins and Clermont-Ferrand before moving
to Paris in the late 1730s. According to Pierre de Bernis, he studied
composition with Rameau (not with Leclair, as stated by La Laurencie and
Pincherle). In 1739 he became a violinist in the chambre du roi and
registered the privilege to publish his op.1, Sonates en trio (granted
in 1740). He joined the Opéra orchestra in 1744 and by 1752 had assumed
some of the conducting responsibilities. His first stage work, Les
amours de Tempé, a ballet in four acts, was presented at the Opéra in
1752 and received a favourable review in the Mercure de France.
Dauvergne’s most enduring operatic success, Les troqueurs, was staged
the following year and established a theatrical career which was to last
over 20 years. Dauvergne was named composer to the chambre du roi and
successor to François Rebel as master of the chambre du roi in 1755, and
surintendant of this establishment nine years later. In 1762 he became,
with Nicolas-René Joliveau and Gabriel Capperan, a co-director of the
Concert Spirituel. The repertory was modified (Mondonville having
resigned as director and removed all his manuscripts), new artists were
introduced to the orchestra and chorus, and Pierre Gaviniès was
appointed leader-conductor. Dauvergne’s sacred works were all written
for this organization, mostly in the earlier part of his 11-year term
there. His tenure passed without notable incident until administrative
and artistic misfortunes beset his final two years. In 1769 Dauvergne
became, with Joliveau, P.-M. Berton and J.-C. Trial, a director of the
Opéra.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of his first term as director of the
Opéra was his involvement in negotiations with Gluck (1772-74).
Dauvergne was unimpressed by Roullet’s proposal to bring Gluck and his
operas to Paris, so Gluck himself wrote to Dauvergne, enclosing the
first act of Iphigénie en Aulide as a sample. Although Dauvergne
admitted the novelty and potential influence of Gluck’s work, he
continued to discourage the composer by demanding five other operas.
Marie-Antoinette then intervened, and the première of Iphigénie at the
Opéra in 1774 was a triumph. Dauvergne’s 1773 arrangement of Destouches’
Callirhoé stimulated much adverse criticism of his knowledge of
contemporary taste. Nevertheless, he was named composer to the Opéra in
March 1776, and the following month resigned as director. In 1780 he
again became its director, but shortly thereafter numerous musicians
complained in writing of his perpetual nagging and inept management. He
was unable to rally support, and resigned in 1782, pleading for an
adequate pension. In 1783 and 1784 he was urged to assume the
directorship of the newly established Ecole Royale de Chant but declined
the offers because of the low salary. He became director of the Opéra
for the third time in 1785. Although his merit, honesty and wisdom were
cited in the appointment, another series of letters, critical of his
age, taste and management, made this term as unpleasant as the last. The
death of his second wife in 1787, the increasing political instability
(which inevitably caused financial and artistic difficulties) and his
diminished abilities forced him to retire in 1790. He died, nearly
forgotten, seven years later.
