Eugene Bigot (1888 - 1965)

After World War II Bigot participated in the foundation of the Orchestre Radio-Symphonique, which later became the Orchestre Philharmonique de la Radio-Television Française (ORTF), acting as its principal conductor from 1947 until his death in Paris in 1965. In addition to these permanent posts, Bigot conducted performances of French opera at many of Europe’s leading opera houses. He was himself an accomplished composer, notably of ballet music (La Princesse d’Elide, Laurenza, Pyrrhique), as well as of chamber music, songs and orchestral suites.

Eugène Bigot’s irreproachable sense of style and innate musicianship enabled him to conduct all repertoires, and so made him an ideal conductor for the gramophone. Both before and after World War II he made many recordings on 78rpm discs. The most notable of these was the abridged recording of Charpentier’s Louise, which he recorded with two of the most distinguished French singers of the pre-war period, Ninon Vallin and Georges Thill. With the introduction after World War II of tape recording and the long-playing record, Bigot remained active in the recording studio, frequently as an accompanist in concerto and operatic recordings and at the head of the Lamoureux Orchestra. Among the numerous distinguished soloists with whom he recorded were the instrumentalists Lola Bobesco, Alexander Borowsky, Gaby Casadesus, Robert Casadesus, Andor Foldes, Pierre Fournier, Wanda Landowska, Henri Merckel, Marcel Moyse, Yves Nat, André Navarra, Ruggiero Ricci, and Jacques Thibaud as well as the singers Pierre Bernac, Paul Franz, José Luccioni, Germaine Martinelli, and Janine Micheau. His solo recordings were regrettably few, and focused upon French repertoire such as the music of Berlioz and Lalo. Bigot was also active as a teacher of conducting. His pupils were international in scope and included Karel Husa, Jean Bernard Pommier, Mikis Theodorakis, and Lim Kek Tjiang, the composer of the modern Butterfly Concerto.