Kurpinski, Karl Kasimir
1785-1857
Composer of many Polish operas and ballets. Was born at Luschwitz, in Posen, and died at Warsaw. He first played in the orchestra of Starosty Polanowski in Galicia, then became assistant conductor at the National Theatre at Warsaw, finally taking Eisner's place as conductor in 1825. He was also in the service of Emperor Alexander I., and was made a member of the order of St. Stanislaus. He devoted his life to composing and to studying the musical conditions of various European countries. He wrote twenty-four operas, among them Two Huts; Lucifer's Palace; Martin's Wife in the Harem; The Ruins of Babylon; Hagar in the Desert; The Siege of Dantzic; Father's Bad Example; and The Charlatan; several ballets, including Le bourgeois gentilhomme; and Terpsichore sur la Vistule; and considerable instrumental music.