In 1826 he went to London from Paris, his first appearance taking place
on May 1st, before the Philharmonic Society. Wherever he appeared,
either in London or the provinces, he was greeted with enthusiasm, and
he established a lasting reputation.

His appearance in England antedated that of Paganini by about five
years, and it has been questioned whether the impression which he made
would have been less if he had appeared after instead of before the
great Italian. It seems, however that De Beriot continued to meet with
success even after the advent of Paganini. His playing was distinguished
by unfailing accuracy of intonation, great neatness and facility of
bowing, grace, elegance, and piquancy.

After travelling for some years he returned to Belgium, where he was
appointed solo violin to the King of the Netherlands. He had held the
position but a short time when the revolution of 1830 broke out and
deprived him of it.

He returned to Paris, and now began the most romantic portion of his
life. Madame Malibran, whose brilliant career was then at its height,
was singing in opera, and De Beriot became acquainted with her. The
acquaintance ripened into the most intimate friendship, and in 1832 a
concert company was formed, consisting of Malibran, De Beriot, and Luigi
Lablache, the celebrated and gigantic basso. They made a tour of Italy,
meeting with the most extraordinary success.

De Beriot and the beautiful Madame Malibran were now inseparable.
Malibran had for some years been living apart from her husband, an
American merchant, who, with the view of supporting himself by her
talents, had married her when on the brink of financial collapse. In
1835 she succeeded in securing a divorce from him, and then she married
De Beriot.

A few months after their marriage Malibran was thrown from her horse
and sustained internal injuries of such severity that she died after an
illness of nine days, and De Beriot became frantic with grief.

More than a year elapsed before he could at all recover from the effects
of his irreparable loss, and his first appearance in concert, after this
tragic event, was when Pauline Garcia, the sister of Madame Malibran,
made her first debut in a concert at Brussels given for the benefit of
the poor.

In 1841 De Beriot married Mlle. Huber, daughter of a magistrate of
Vienna. He returned to Brussels, and became director of the violin
classes at the Conservatoire, after which he ceased giving conc