Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht

Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht was born in Paris in September 1880, the son of a violinist at the Opéra-Comique. He studied violin at the Paris Conservatoire from 1894 and earned his early living as an orchestral player. He turned to conducting in 1908 with the Théâtre des Arts, and from 1913 to 1925 conducted at the Opéra-Comique and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées — where he led the second performance of Stravinsky’s *Le sacre du printemps* (the first having been Pierre Monteux’s notorious 1913 premiere).

He was a close friend of Debussy and one of the most authoritative interpreters of French music of his generation. He founded the Orchestre National de France in 1934 at the invitation of the French government, with the specific mandate of championing French repertoire on radio, and was its principal conductor through its formative decade. He published extensively on conducting — *Le chef d’orchestre et son équipe* (1949) became a standard reference — and on Debussy interpretation, where his close personal association with the composer gave his views particular weight.

Inghelbrecht was a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur. He died in Paris in February 1965. Music Preserved’s archive includes a range of his work in the French symphonic and operatic repertoire from twentieth-century recorded performance.