Michał Bergson

Michał Bergson (Bergsohn), or Michel Bergson, was a Polish composer and pianist, promoter of Frédéric Chopin.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Michał Bergson.

From the period sources

Michał Bergson, a Polish composer and pianist, was born in Warsaw in May 1820 and died in London on December 12, 1897, according to the Dictionary of Music (1908). He was considered a brilliant pianist and a composer of much taste, as noted by the Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1886). Bergson studied with Friedrich Schneider at Dessau, and later with Rungenhagen and Taubert, as detailed in The New Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians (1924). His career saw him travel extensively; after studying, he went to Italy in 1846, where his opera Luisa di Montfort premiered successfully at La Pergola, Florence, in 1847, and was subsequently performed in Livorno and Hamburg. He resided for several years in Berlin and Leipzig before settling in Paris, where in 1859 he produced his one-act operetta, Qui va à la chasse perd sa place, at a concert. In 1863, Bergson became the principal pianoforte teacher at the Geneva Conservatoire, quickly rising to director of the institution, before moving to London to work as a private teacher, a role he still held in 1880, according to Biographie universelle des musiciens. His compositions include a pianoforte concerto in E minor, numerous études and characteristic pieces, and several songs.