Cornelis Dopper

Cornelis ‘Kees’ Dopper (7 February 1870, Stadskanaal – 19 September 1939, Amsterdam) was a Dutch composer, conductor and teacher. Life Born in the northern Dutch town of Stadskanaal, he came to study at the Leipzig conservatory with, among others, Carl Reinecke. After his studies he settled in Groningen, not far from his place of birth. His first opera, De blinde van Castel Cuillé (The Blind Girl of Castel Cuillé), was premiered in Amsterdam in 1894 by the Nederlandsche Opera under the baton of Cornelis van der Linden, and in that same year he entered the service of that company; there he worked as a violinist, chorus master and conductor. During the years 1904–1905 he worked as a music critic for the Amsterdam newspapers De Echo (The Echo) and Het Leven (The Life). A year later, Dopper joined the Savage Opera Company and began to tour the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In that capacity, he was responsible for the American premiere of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (1906 B.C ). He subsequently toured the country with that opera for two seasons (‘06-‘07 and ‘07-‘08). Having grown tired of touring life, he returned to Amsterdam in 1908 to become second conductor of the Amsterdam Conc