Léon Jehin (17 July 1853 – 14 February 1928) was a

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

and composer, especially associated with the opera house in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

.Favre G. ''Histoire Musicale de la Principauté de Monaco du XVIe au XXe siècle.'' Éditions des Archives du Palais Princier, Monaco/Éditions A et J Picard, Paris, 1974. He composed the national anthem of Monaco.

Life and career

Jehin was born in

Spa, Belgium Spa (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for spa, mineral baths with supposed curative properties. It is ...

. He studied at the conservatoire in Liege and then in Brussels. He was a violinist at

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

in the Belgian capital and conducted at Anvers, Aix-les-Bains, and the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

. In 1889, when he was an assistant conductor in Brussels, he succeeded Arthur Steck as the conductor of the

Monte Carlo Opera Monte may refer to: Places Argentina * Argentine Monte, an ecoregion * Monte Desert * Monte Partido, a ''partido'' in Buenos Aires Province Italy * Monte Bregagno * Monte Cassino * Montecorvino (disambiguation) * Montefalcione Portugal * Monte ...

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, a position he held until his death. His first performance there was of ''

Mireille Mireille () is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name ''Mirèio'' (or ''Mirèlha'' in the classical norm of Occitan, ). It could be related to the Occitan verb ''mirar'' "to look, to admire" or to the given names ''Miriam'' " ...

'' by

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

.Walsh T J. ''Monte Carlo opera, 1879–1909.'' Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1975. In addition to conducting the main repertoire at the Monte Carlo opera, he conducted the premieres of the following operas: * '' Hulda'' (

Franck Franck can refer to: People * Franck (name) Other * Franck, Argentina, town in Santa Fe Province, Argentina * Franck (company), Croatian coffee and snacks company * Franck (crater), Lunar crater named after James Franck See also * Franc (di ...

) 8 March 1894 * '' La jacquerie'' (

Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer, violist, violinist, and academic teacher. His most celebrated piece is the '' Symphonie Espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra that re ...

and

Arthur Coquard Arthur Coquard (26 May 1846 – 20 August 1910)Baker, Theodore; rev. by Nicolas Slonimsky (1978) ''Baker's Biographical dictionary of musicians - 6th ed.'' New York: Schirmer Books, 348. was a French composer and music critic. He studied comp ...

) 9 May 1895 * '' Ghiselle'' (Franck) 30 March 1896 * ''

Messaline ''Messaline'' (''Messalina'') is an operatic tragédie lyrique in four acts by Isidore de Lara. The librettists were Paul Armand Silvestre and Eugène Morand. The opera premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 21 March 1899 where it was rece ...

'' (

Isidore de Lara Isidore de Lara, born Isidore Cohen (9 August 18582 September 1935), was an English composer and singer. After studying in Italy and France, he returned to England, where he taught for several years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and ...

) 21 March 1899 * '' Le jongleur de Notre-Dame'' (

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

) 18 February 1902 * ''

Chérubin ''Chérubin'' is an opera (''comédie chantée'') in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Francis de Croisset and Henri Cain after de Croisset's play of the same name. It was first performed at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 14 Feb ...

'' (Massenet) 14 February 1905 * ''

L'ancêtre ''L'ancêtre'' ("The Ancestor") is a 1905 in 3 acts by Camille Saint-Saëns to a libretto by Lucien Augé de Lassus (1841-1914). The opera premiered at the on February 24, 1906, and was directed by Raoul Gunsbourg and conducted by Léon Jehin ...

'' ( Saint-Saëns) 24 February 1906 * ''

Don Procopio ''Don Procopio'' is a two-act opera buffa by Georges Bizet with an Italian libretto completed in 1859, and first performed in 1906. Background Bizet spent 1857 to 1860 in Italy as winner of the Prix de Rome. Looking for inspiration for a work to s ...

'' (

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...

) 10 March 1906 * ''

Thérèse Therese or Thérèse is a variant of the feminine given name Teresa. It may refer to: Persons Therese *Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1773–1839), member of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and a Duchess of Mecklenburg *Therese of Br ...

'' (Massenet) 7 February 1907 * ''

Don Quichotte ''Don Quichotte'' (''Don Quixote'') is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn. It was first performed on 19 February 1910 at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Massenet's ''comédie héroïque'', like many dramatiz ...

'' (Massenet) 19 February 1910 * ''

Déjanire ''Déjanire'' is the title of two related French works by Camille Saint-Saëns: ''Musique de scène pour ‘Déjanire’ de Gallet'' (1898) and the four-act opera, or ''drame lyrique'', ''Déjanire'' (1910, premiered 1911) for which Saint-Saëns ...

'' (Saint-Saëns) 14 March 1911 * ''

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

'' (Massenet) 17 February 1912 * ''

Pénélope ''Pénélope'' is an opera in three acts by the French composer Gabriel Fauré. The libretto, by René Fauchois is based on Homer's ''Odyssey''. It was first performed at the Salle Garnier, Monte Carlo, on 4 March 1913. The piece is dedicated ...

'' ( Fauré) 4 March 1913 * ''

Cléopâtre ''Cléopâtre'' is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Payen. It was first performed at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 23 February 1914, nearly two years after Massenet's death. ''Cléopâtre'' is one of three o ...

'' (Massenet) 23 February 1914 * '' Béatrice'' ( Messager) 21 March 1914 * '' Amadis'' (Massenet) 1 April 1922 In 1889 he married the mezzo-soprano Blanche Deschamps, with whom he had worked in Brussels. In 1910, at La Monnaie, Jehin conducted ''

'' with the premiere cast and the Monte Carlo orchestra, as well as ''Ivan le terrible'' (premiere), and ''Le vieil aigle'' by

Raoul Gunsbourg Raoul Samuel Gunsbourg (January 6, 1860, in Bucharest – May 31, 1955, in Monte Carlo) was a Jewish-Romania-bornBorn in Bucharest, Gunsbourg is a son of a French father and Romanian mother. His grandfather was a rabbi. opera director, impresari ...

.'Computerised Archival Retrieval in Multimedia Enhanced Networking' - The digital opera archives of La Monnaie. http://carmen.demunt.be/ accessed 5 August 2011. He died in

, aged 74. In 1953, a centennial concert was held in his memory in the Monte Carlo Casino.

Compositions

Jehin’s compositions include a Hymne à la Charte for soloists, chorus, and orchestra (Monte-Carlo, 1889), Scherzo symphonique (1902), Intermezzo for horn and orchestra (1909), a Marche Inaugurale (for the opening of the Musée Océanographique, 1909), and a Suite symphonique (1921).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jehin, Leon 1853 births 1928 deaths People from Spa, Belgium French conductors (music) French male conductors (music) Music directors (opera) Monegasque musicians