A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Léonard, Hubert

LÉONARD, Hubert, famous violinist, born in 1819 at Bellaire in Belgium, entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1836, and studied under Habeneck. He established his reputation as a brilliant player by a tour through Germany in 1844, and was the first to play Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in Berlin, under the immediate direction of the composer. In 1847 he succeeded de Bériot as first professor of the violin at the Brussels Conservatoire. Since 1870 he has lived in Paris. He is an eminently successful teacher, and counts among his pupils many of the best modern Belgian, German, and French violinists. Leonard is a brilliant virtuoso, excelling especially in arpeggios and staccatos.

Madame Léonard, one of the Garcia family, gained much distinction in concert singing, and is now a successful teacher of singing in Paris.