( b Lille, 27 Jan 1823; d Paris, 22 April 1892). French composer. He studied at the Lille Conservatory and in Habeneck's class at the Paris Conservatoire. As a violinist and teacher in Paris in the 1850s he showed an unfashionable inclination towards chamber music, playing Classical string quartets and composing string trios and a noteworthy quartet. During the 1870s he attracted attention for his instrumental works, especially for the Symphonie espagnole (1874), a five-movement violin concerto, and the powerful Cello Concerto (1877). After disappointment at the poor reception of his opera Fiesque (1866-7), he took up stage music again in 1875, winning success with Le roi d′Ys (1888), on which his operatic fame has rested; his ballet score Namouna (1881-2) became popular as a series of orchestral suites. Among the hallmarks of Lalo's music, the vigour of which stands in contrast to the style of Franck's pupils and the impressionists, are his strongly diatonic melody, piquant harmony and ingenious orchestration.

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