Robert Nicolas-Charles Bochsa (9 August 1789 – 6 January 1856) was a
harpist
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...
and composer. His relationship with
Anna Bishop
Anna Bishop (9 January 181018 March 1884) was an English operatic soprano. She sang in many countries on every continent, and was the most widely travelled singer of the 19th century.Svengali
Svengali () is a character in the novel ''Trilby'' which was first published in 1894 by George du Maurier. Svengali is a man who seduces, dominates and exploits Trilby, a young half-Irish girl, and makes her into a famous singer.
Definition
...
and Trilby in
George du Maurier
George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch'' and a Gothic novel ''Trilby'', featuring the character Svengali. His son was the actor Sir Gerald d ...
's 1894 novel ''
Trilby
A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. Barnes & Noble. and ...
''.
Life
The son of a Bohemian-born musician, Karl Bochsa(de), Bochsa was born in
Montmédy
Montmédy (, german: Mittelberg) is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Citadel of Montmédy
In 1221 the first castle of Montmédy was built on top of a hill by the Count of Chiny. Montmédy soon became the ...
,
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
, France. He was able to play the flute and piano by the age of seven. In 1807, he went to study at the
Paris Conservatoire
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
. He was appointed
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
ist to the
Imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imperial, Texa ...
Orchestra in 1813, and began writing operas for the
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...
. However, in 1817 he became entangled in
counterfeiting
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
, fraud, and forgery, and fled to London to avoid prosecution. He was convicted ''
in absentia
is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent".
may also refer to:
* Award in absentia
* Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body
* Election in absen ...
Australian Dictionary of Biography
The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
(1969).
Safe from French law in London, he helped found the
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
in 1821, and became its secretary. He taught there, amongst others, the British harp virtuoso Elias Parish Alvars. When his criminal conviction was revealed in 1826, he was forced to resign. He then became Musical Director of the
Kings Theatre
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh' ...
in London.
In 1839, he became involved in another scandal when he ran off with the opera singer
Anna Bishop
Anna Bishop (9 January 181018 March 1884) was an English operatic soprano. She sang in many countries on every continent, and was the most widely travelled singer of the 19th century.Henry Bishop. They performed together in North America and throughout Europe (except France). In
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
Bochsa was appointed
Director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
Opera House
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
) and stayed there for two years.
Bochsa arrived with Anna Bishop in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia, at the time of the
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
in December 1855, but they gave only one concert together before Bochsa died. Bishop was heartbroken, and commissioned an elaborate tomb for him in
Camperdown Cemetery
Camperdown Cemetery is an historic cemetery located on Church Street in Newtown, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The cemetery was founded in 1848 and was for twenty years the main general cemetery for Sydney, with the ...
.
Operas
*''Le Retour de Trajan, ou, Rome triomphante''
*''Les Héritiers Michau, ou Le Moulin de Lieursain''
*''L'Héritier de Paimpol''
*''Le Roi et la ligue''
*''Les Noces de Gamache''
*''La Lettre de change'' (English: ''The Promissory Note''; German: ''Der Wechselbrief'')
*''Un Mari pour étrennes''
Bibliography
* Michel Faul, ''Nicolas-Charles Bochsa, harpiste, compositeur, escroc'' (Éditions Delatour, 2003)
* Michel Faul, ''Les Tribulations mexicaines de Nicolas-Charles Bochsa, harpiste'' (Éditions Delatour, 2006)
International Harp Archives
The International Harp Archives (IHA) is a collection of archives from the World Harp Congress, American Harp Society, and individual harpists. It is located at the Harold B. Lee Library in Brigham Young University (BYU). The archives began as a c ...