François-Adrien Boieldieu - Harp Concerto (1800)

François-Adrien Boieldieu (16 December 1775 – 8 October 1834) was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart".

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Harp Concerto in C major (1800)

1. Allegro brillante (0:00)
2. Andante lento (9:00)
3. Rondeau - Allegro agitato (13:17)

Maria Robles, harp and St. Martin-In-the Fields conducted by Ilona Brown

Although his reputation is largely based upon his operas, Boieldieu also composed other works. Among them was his Harp Concerto in C, written in 1800–1801 and one of the masterpieces of the harp repertory. He was appointed as second class professor of piano in 1798, became professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire in 1820 and in 1817 he succeeded Méhul as one of the forty members of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He received the Légion d'honneur in 1820. He gradually lost the ability to speak, no doubt due to cancer of the larynx. The bankruptcy of the Opéra-Comique and the revolution of 1830 added to his woes. To save him from poverty, Adolphe Thiers awarded him a state pension of 6,000 francs. On September 25, 1834, he made his last public appearance at the premiere of Adolphe Adam's Le chalet. In this way, he stylishly passed on the baton to his brilliant pupil.

He was a freemason, initiated at the Parisian lodge Les Arts et l'Amitié ('Arts and Friendship') – belonging to the Grand Orient of France, – as well as having been a member of the lodge 'Palestine' (in St Petersburg), and an honorary member of the lodge 'Les Amis Réunis' ('Friends Re-united'), also in St Petersburg.

Boieldieu died in Varennes-Jarcy. On 13 November 1834 his heart was interred in Rouen, in a tomb paid for by that city and designed by Charles Isabelle, while his body was interred in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. He was survived by an illegitimate son (Adrien) Louis (Victor) (1815–83), mother Thérèse Regnault; he was also a composer.