Théodore Ritter
| Théodore Ritter | |
|---|---|
 Théodore Ritter (drawing by A. Barbé) | |
| Born |
Toussaint Prévost 5 April 1840 Nantes |
| Died |
6 April 1886 (aged 46) Paris |
| Occupation |
Composer Pianist |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Desgranges |
Toussaint Prévost, known under the pseudonym Théodore Ritter (5 April 1840 – 6 April 1886) was an 19th-century French composer and pianist.
Biography
The son of composer Eugène Prévost, he was a student of Hector Berlioz. He began his career as a baritone singer at La Monnaie in Brussels under the name Félix, then learned the piano with Franz Liszt. He quickly became a renowned pianist and began an international career under the name Théodore Ritter.
A member of the "Société des derniers concerts de Beethoven" (1860), he undertook a concert tour in Canada and the US with the violinist Frantz Jehin-Prume and the operatic singer Carlotta Patti in 1869–1870.
Among others, he was the teacher of Isidore Philipp and Samuel Sanford.
Married with the singer Alice Desgranges; his niece Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi was also famous as a singer.
A chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (1880), he is buried at cimetière du Père-Lachaise (20th division)[1]
He composed numerous pieces for piano and transcriptions, as well as piano versions of L'enfance du Christ and Roméo et Juliette by Berlioz .
Bibliography
- Émile Maillard, Nantes et le département au XIXe siècle, 1891, (p. 199) ISBN 1274696216
- Henry Charles Lahee, Famous pianists of today and yesterday, 1901, (p. 335) ISBN 1164071394
- Georges d'Heylli, Dictionnaire des pseudonymes, 1977, (p. 377-378) ISBN 978-5880613021