Artôt(real name, Montagney)

Artôt(real name, Montagney), family of Belgian musicians:

(1) Maurice Artôt , bandmaster, horn player, guitarist, and teacher; b. Gray, Haute-Saône, France, Feb. 3, 1772; d. Brussels, Jan. 8, 1829. After serving as a bandmaster in the French Army, he settled in Brussels as 1^st horn player in the orch. of the Théâtre de la Monnaie. He also was active as a guitarist and singing teacher. He had 2 sons who became musicians:

(2) Jean-Désiré Artôt , horn player, teacher, and composer; b. Paris, Sept. 23, 1803; d. Brussels, March 25, 1887. He studied with his father, whom he succeeded as 1^st horn player in the orch. of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. He also played in the court orch. and taught at the Brussels Cons, from 1843. He composed horn pieces and quartets for cornets à pistons.

(3) Alexandre-Joseph Artôt , violinist and composer; b. Brussels, Jan. 25, 1815; d. Ville d’Avray, France, July 20, 1845. He was a pupil of his father. At age 7, he made his first public appearance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels playing a Viotti concerto. After lessons from Snel, he completed his training with Rodolphe and Auguste Kreutzer at the Paris Cons., winning a premier mix in 1828. Following appearances on the Continent, he made his London debut at a Phil, concert playing his own Fantaisie for Violin and Orch. on June 3, 1839. In 1843 he made a successful tour of the U.S. and Cuba with Cinti-Damoreau. He also wrote a Violin Concerto, a Quintet for Strings and Piano, string quartets, and solo violin pieces.

(4) (Marguerite-Joséphine) Désirée (actually, Désiré) Artôt, distinguished mezzo-soprano, later soprano, daughter of Jean-Désiré Artôt; b. Paris, July 21, 1835; d. Berlin, April 3, 1907. She studied with M. Audran and P. Viardot-Garcia. In 1857 she appeared as a concert artist in Brussels and sang for Queen Victoria in England. On Feb. 5, 1858, she made her debut at the Paris Opéra as Fides, winning the admiration of Berlioz and other critics. However, intrigues against her soon compelled her to leave the Opéra. In 1859 she sang in Italy and then appeared with Lorini’s Italian company at the inauguration of the Victoria-Theater in Berlin. She subsequently pursued her career mainly in Germany, where she excelled in both German and Italian roles. In 1859–60 she appeared with notable success as a concert artist in London, returning there to sing with the Royal Italian Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre (1863) and at Covent Garden (1864, 1866). In 1869 she went to Russia, where she was briefly engaged to Tchaikovsky until her marriage to Mariano Padilla y Ramos on Sept. 15, 1869. They subsequently sang together in Germany, Austria, and Russia. She taught singing in Berlin until settling with her husband in Paris in 1889. Their daughter was Lola Artôt de Padilla.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire