Edouard Dupuy

The Swiss-born composer Dupuy was engaged for ten years in Copenhagen, and managed to leave his mark on Danish musical culture - which is why he is accounted part of Danish musical history. Dupuy was a restless personality with all-round musical talents and great charm. As a travelling musician he came in 1793 to Stockholm, where he worked both as a singer and as a composer. But he was banished from Sweden in 1799 for lèse majesté. Instead he settled down in Denmark, where he continued his career in the musical theatre. His Singspiel Ungdom og Galskab (Youth and Folly) of 1806 was a huge success, and has ever since been one of the most popular examples of the genre in Denmark. Dupuy was the first to sing the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni in Denmark, but he evidently had problems distinguishing between fiction and reality. He took the wife of the Crown Prince as his lover, and when this was discovered both the Princess and Dupuy were banished. After a few years in Paris, the political mood in Sweden permitted him to move back to Stockholm, where he lived until his death.