He rented the Odeon theatre, and got together an orchestra, the
conductorship of which he entrusted to M. Edouard Colonne. And on 2
March, 1873, the _Concert National_ was inaugurated in a musical
matinee, where M. Saint-Saens played his _Concerto in G minor_ and Mme.
Viardot sang Schubert's _Roi des Aulnes_. In the first year six ordinary
concerts were given, and, besides that, two sacred concerts with choirs,
at which Cesar Franck's _Redemption_ and Massenet's _Marie-Magdeleine_
were performed. In 1874 the Odeon was abandoned for the Chatelet. This
venture attracted some attention, and the concerts were patronised by
the public; but the financial results were not great.[216] Hartmann was
discouraged and wished to give the whole thing up. But M. Edouard
Colonne conceived the idea of turning his orchestra into a society, and
of continuing the work under the name of _Association Artistique_. Among
the artist-founders were MM. Bruneau, Benjamin Godard, and Paul
Hillemacher. Its early days were full of struggle; but owing to the
perseverance of the Association all obstacles were finally overcome. In
1903 a festival was held to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary.
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