Poulet, Gaston
Poulet, Gaston
Poulet, Gaston , French violinist and conductor, father of Gérard Poulet; b. Paris, April 10, 1892; d. Draveil, Essonne, April 14, 1974. He studied violin at the Paris Cons., winning the premier prix (1910). He made his debut as soloist in the Beethoven Concerto in Brussels (1911). He organized a string quartet in 1912 and gave concerts in Europe. From 1927 to 1936 he conducted the Concerts Poulet at the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt in Paris. From 1932 to 1944 he served as director of the Cons. of Bordeaux and conducted the Phil. Orch. there, and from 1940 to 1945 he conducted the Concerts Colonne in Paris. He was a guest conductor with the London Sym. Orch. (1947) and in Germany (1948), as well as in South America. He played the violin in the first performance of Debussy’s Violin Sonata, with Debussy himself at the piano (1917). He was a prof. of chamber music at the Paris Cons. from 1944 to 1962. In 1948 he founded the famous Besançon Festival.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire