Boieldieu – The ‘French Mozart’

I heard this piece [from a couple of years ago] that I had never heard before being played on my local classical music station in Houston, Houston Public Media-Classical, and I loved it.  Not only hadn’t I heard this Harp Concerto before, I also had never heard of the composer, Francois-Adrien Boieldieu.   While I am a huge fan and lover of classical music, I am no expert, so don’t be too hard on me for not knowing of this composer.

What I also learned from the broadcast was that Adrien Boieldieu was considered the French Mozart. Wow, that is interesting. I knew there was a man who was considered the Spanish Mozart, Juan Arriaga, but I never knew there was a man nicknamed the French Mozart. His style is definitely like the quintessential classical composer, W.A. Mozart.  Boieldieu was a composer of mostly operas.  He was born in France in 1775, 19 years after Mozart’s birth.

The Harp Concerto I heard is a very nice piece by the French classical composer that is very rarely played in concert halls so you, like me, may have never heard this piece before.

This classical era concerto is a bright, sunny piece in C-Major and has three movements: 1. Allegro Brillante, 2. Andante Lento and 3. Rondo: Allegro Agitato.

Please turn up the volume and enjoy this hidden gem by the ‘French Mozart’, Boieldieu. Boieldieu: Harp Concerto in C Major:

Also, as I stated Boieldieu composed mainly operas.  I found this nice overture from his opera “Le Calife de Bagdad”:

Next please turn up the volume to enjoy Adrien Boieldieu’s Piano Concerto in F Major:

Finally, keep the volume turned up and enjoy another one of the “French Mozart’s” overtures to his opera, Boieldieu’s: Overture to La Dame Blanche:

I hope you enjoyed this music from Francois-Adrien Boieldieu, “The French Mozart”.