A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, La
SOCIÉTÉ DES CONCERTS DU CONSERVATOIRE, LA—the body which gives the famous concerts in Paris—was founded in 1828, by Habeneck and a group of eminent musicians, as already stated. [See vol. i. p. 385.] The positions of acting and honorary president are respectively filled by the chief conductor and the director of the Conservatoire. The management of the Society is in the hands of a committee elected by the members. The committee meets weekly on Tuesday mornings, and its chief duty is to settle the programmes of each season. The reading and selection of new works for performance during the winter concerts is done by the Society at large, meeting for that purpose from and after October. There are two full rehearsals for each concert.
The concerts themselves and their repetition in a second series have been already described [i. 386a]. The first series is for the 'new' subscribers, the second for the 'old' ones. Each series includes a 'Concert spirituel,' and since 1881 the second performance of this concert takes place, not on Easter Sunday, but on the Saturday before it. In the spring of 1882 M. Deldevez was re-elected conductor, and M. Heyberger chorus-master. M. Garcin—solo violin at the opera—is now sub-conductor.
The Société is entirely distinct from the 'Ecole normale de la musique française.' It has its own library, which however contains but few unpublished works. The most interesting is a small Symphony in C by Haydn, which is always received with applause. [App. p.794 "For corrections and additions see Altès and Garcin in Appendix."]