Fiddle-dee-three: the Delépierre family

 

It rained. So I spent a morning trawling ebay ... and found some delightful photos ...

This one, I had never seen before. But I knew straight away who the 'petits prodiges' were.

Two sisters and a brother by the name of Delépierre. Jules Henri (b Dunkerque), Juliette (b Douai) and Julia Maria (b Bagneres de Bigorre). They were three of the children of violinist and conductor Jules Louis Delépierre (1820-1904) and his musician wife, Julie née Boucherie (1829-1896) and they really were 'prodiges'. In an age when juvenile artists, real or marginally real, were hugely popular, the two girls (brother dropped out quite soon) were acclaimed 'the best thing of its kind we have yet seen' by the picky London press. And they didn't have to lie too much about their ages: They were born, respectively, in 1849 (6 March), 1850 and 1852, so when Jules and Juliette 'pupils of Scholl' appeared at Madame Labadie's Parisian concert in 1858 ('aged 7 and 6') they were only a smidgin understated. And when Julia joined the act 'aged 4' soon after, we can see that she was only a couple of years older than claimed. I think this photo must have been taken 1859, when Jules was still with the act, and Julia had joined. Although he did return occasionally ..

In 1859, the three children 'from France and Belgium' made an appearance at the Lyceum, London at Edmund Falconer's Benefit, and made a great effect. This critic got his facts a little muddled ...

They went on to be seen at the Crystal Palace, at Liverpool's Clayton Hall, at the Princess's Theatre, at Cremorne Gardens and at Glasgow over the next couple of years, with undiminshed success, before returning to Europe. I spot them at Cologne, interpolated into Les Mille et un songes and Lulli ou les petits violons du roi at the Variétés, 

then at Nimes, Metz, Montpelier, Rochefort, Ghent, Lille...  In 1866 they gave a concert at the Salle Pleyel, and appeared at the Variétés, giving a whole new boost to their popularity. In the same year they appeared at London's Oxford Music Hall 'violinists of the Northern Courts' introducing to their programme performance on the 'xilophone'.

Juliette made the transition from prodigy to adult performer and also turned to singing, becoming a dugazon d'opérette ... and then she voyaged to Odessa where she caught the heart of Prince Vladimir Dolgoroukov. The tale goes that, with time, Princesse Lily grew moody and sad, and missed her music ... so she started appearing from time to time ... I spot her at Toulouse ..  

Julia married Amédée Victor Maurice DOUAI (Douay) ...

Jules continued in the music world, but he died 29 January 1894, aged 'about 43', at Galatz, on the Roumanian Danube.

Juliette -- Princesse Lily -- also died before her 50th birthday (27 October 1897) of 'empoisonnement', but Julia, Madame Douai, lived on  until 10 Febuary 1926.