This composer, director of the Paris Conservatoire after Cherubini, died on 12 May 1871 in the midst of the Paris Commune, in the arms of his own successor — a man who had never once left the capital in his life. Who is he?
The answer
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber succeeded Cherubini as head of the Paris Conservatoire in 1842. He died on 12 May 1871, in the midst of the Paris Commune, in the arms of Ambroise Thomas, his own successor at the Conservatoire.
This question belongs to the “Musicians and Composers” series of the Père-Lachaise quiz: ten questions, a story behind every right answer.