Alexandre Artôt

[1] His father was born with the surname Montagny or Montaguey, but had adopted the professional name Artôt, which was preserved by all his children.

Alexandre received instruction in music and on the violin from his father, and at the age of seven played at the theatre a concerto of Giovanni Battista Viotti.

According to Fétis, Artôt then played in concerts in Brussels and London with the greatest success, and became for a time player in the various Parisian orchestras.

[2] We do not find that he played at any other public concert, and this is borne out by a letter of 6 August the same year from Berlioz to Liszt, wherein details are given concerning musical taste in London at the time, received from Alexander Batta [nl], who had just returned from there, and whose mutual conversation he reports at length: "I arrived too late, and it is the same with Artôt, who, despite his success at the Philharmonic, despite the incontestable beauty of his talent, has a tedious time of it.

Upon his death, the Athenaeum noted, "He was, perhaps, the most finished and the most elegant of all the Rubini school of players; one of the handsomest men in our recollection; and much beloved, we are told, among his comrades for his gentleness and amiability.