Benedict, (Sir) Julius

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Benedict, (Sir) Julius (b Stuttgart, 1804; d London, 1885). Ger.-born composer and conductor, naturalized Eng. Son of a banker, he had lessons in Weimar from Hummel who introduced him to Weber, in whose house in Dresden he lived as pupil and protégé 1821–4 and by whom he was taken to meet Beethoven in 1823. Appointed cond., Vienna Kärntnerthor Th. 1823–5. Went to work at San Carlo, Naples, 1825, where several of his operas were perf., and to Paris in 1834, where the singer Malibran suggested he should visit London. From 1835 lived in Eng. He cond. opera seasons at Lyceum (1836–7), Drury Lane (1838–48), and Her Majesty's Th. from 1852. In 1848 cond. Elijah when Jenny Lind first sang in oratorio and later dir. most of her Amer. concerts. Cond., Norwich Fest., 1845–78, Liverpool Phil. Soc. 1867–79. Of his operas, oratorios, cantatas, syms., and concs., only the opera The Lily of Killarney (1862) is still occasionally perf. Wrote important biog. of Weber (London, 1881). Knighted 1871.