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Alexandre Batta (July 9, 1816 – August 10, 1902) was a Dutch cellist. Born to a musical family, he initially played the violin before hearing cellist Nicolas-Joseph Platel play and switching to the cello. He studied with Platel at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, winning first prize for cello in 1834. Music critic Henri-Louis Blanchard, writing in 1847, described Batta as one of the three great cellists of the time, alongside Auguste Franchomme and Adrien-François Servais. Batta was named a knight of the Legion of Honour in 1875.
Alexandre Batta | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait by Ernest Meissonier, 1855 | |
| Born | July 9, 1816 Maastricht, Netherlands |
| Died | August 10, 1902 (aged 86) |
| Education | Royal Conservatory of Brussels |
| Occupation | Cellist |
| Honours | Knight of the Legion of Honour |
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Alexandre Batta was born on July 9, 1816, to a Belgian musical family[1] in Maastricht.[2] His father, Pierre, was a cellist.[3] He had two younger brothers: Laurent, a pianist, and Joseph, a composer and violinist.[4] Batta initially studied the violin and his youngest brother was to study the cello. However, Alexandre developed a passion for the cello after he heard Nicolas-Joseph Platel play. When his father left the house, he secretly played his brother's cello with his violin bow, convincing his father to allow him to study the instrument.[1]
Batta was taught by his father[3] before he studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Platel. There, he won the first prize for cello in 1834 alongside François de Munck.[3] Batta left the Conservatory in 1835 and moved to Paris.[1] In 1836, he bought a Stradivarius from a French dealer.[5] The cello would later be named for him.[6] In 1837, he played in a series of chamber concerts with Franz Liszt and Chrétien Urhan at the Salons Érard.[7] The concerts included the Beethoven piano trios and were successful, influencing French composers.[8] Batta played with Liszt again in 1840 in London and in 1841 in Paris.[4] In 1847, Henri-Louis Blanchard described him as one of the three great cellists of the time, alongside Auguste Franchomme and Adrien-François Servais.[9] From around 1849 to 1851, he participated in chamber music sessions with Achille Dien, a violinist, and Camille Saint-Saëns, who wrote an unfinished piano trio that may have been for the trio.[10]
In his later years, Batta published musical criticisms in L'Union libérale et démocratique de Seine et Oise.[4] In August 1875, he was named a knight of the Legion of Honour.[11] His wife Clémentine, a composer, died of an illness in 1880.[12] In 1893, he sold his Stradivarius to W. E. Hill & Sons.[5] Batta died in Versailles[2] on August 10, 1902.[4]
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