[1] Born in Paris, he made his debut in the theatre at the Théâtre des Jeunes-Artistes then at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris.

In 1865, he was hired at the Théâtre du Parc in Brussels, before he briefly managed the two theatres in Lille (northern France).

He then was managing director of the Théâtre des Variétés from 1869 to 1891.

He was director of the Opéra Garnier from 1 January 1892 until his death in 1899, first in association with Campocasso, and then from 1894, with Pedro Gailhard.

[2] At the Opéra he was the first to successfully produce operas by Richard Wagner and also mounted a new production Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila (1892) and gave the first performance of Massenet's Thaïs (1894).