Xavier Henry Napoleón Leroux (French pronunciation:[ɡzavjeɑ̃ʁinapɔlɛnləʁu]; 11 October 1863 – 2 February 1919) was a French composer and a teacher at the Paris Conservatory. He was married to the famous soprano Meyrianne Héglon (1867–1942).
Leroux composed various orchestral and choral works, songs, and piano pieces, but he became known above all as a representative of naturalistic French opera. His masterpiece is the opera Le Chemineau, which was staged six times at the Opéra-Comique between 1907 and 1945.
The music critic of Le Monde, Jacques-Emmanuel Fousnaquer, points out that "between 1907 (the year of its creation) and 1945, [Le Chemineau] was performed over a hundred times at the Opéra-Comique, with equal success." It was revived at the Marseille Opera in January 1996, featuring Jean-Philippe Lafont and Martine Surais, directed by Henri Gallois.[1]
Alfredo Casella dedicated his Symphony No. 1 in B minor, Op. 5 to him in 1905.
Leroux was married to the Brussels-born soprano Marie-Antoinette Willemsen, who appeared under the pseudonym Meyrianne Héglon (1867–1942).
