He sang in Quebec City from his early childhood,
especially at the Church of the Congregation of Notre-Dame (now
Jacques-Cartier). He performed as a soloist in the hall of the Académie
commerciale and thus came to the notice of the school's director, who accepted
him as a non-paying student at the institution and in 1891 found a position for
him as bookkeeping teacher at the Collège Mont-St-Louis, Montreal. Mercier lived 1892-4 in Toronto, where he studied
elocution with J. H. Cameron and solfège with Adèle Lemaître. In Boston he performed the role of the Duke inRigoletto at Castle Square but
soon returned to Toronto
to open a voice studio. y means of a subscription and the proceeds of some
concerts given at Massey Hall, Mercier went to Paris and studied voice for five years with
Jacques Bouhy and solfège and stage techniques with T. Valdejo. In January 1899
he was chosen from among 18 tenors to sing at the Opéra-Comique; he made his
debut in Méhul's ''Joseph''. Le Gauloiscommented: 'Mercier's tone was superb. A powerful
voice, perfect diction, expressive features; he is actor and singer rolled into
one.' Later he sang in ''Carmen'', ''Mireille'', and ''Manon''. In 1901 Mercier performed
in ''Faust'', ''Les Huguenots'', ''Carmen'', ''Roméo et Juliette'', and ''Le Roi d'Ys'' at Covent
Garden, London,
in casts which included Calvé, Journet, Melba, Plançon, Scotti, and Tamagno. He
returned to Paris to learn the role of Arnold in ''William Tell'', which he later sang in Bordeaux and in Rouen,
where according to Le Nouvelliste, he received seven curtain calls for his
performance of the aria 'Asile héréditaire.' After singing in Faust,
L'Africaine, Les Huguenots, Sigurd, and La Juive on tour in France, he visited Italy
and Switzerland.
He repeated his roles in ''Les Huguenots'' at The
Hague and ''William Tell'' at Spa with Noté. In December
1906, while preparing for a season at the theatre in Lyons,
he had to return to Quebec City
because of his mother's death. In 1907 he sang in Toronto
and in Quebec City, and that November he left
once again for Paris.
Mercier spent the 1908-19099 season in Constantine (Algeria), where he triumphed in ''Les Hugenots'', and then in ''Werther'', ''Carmen'', ''La Navarraise'', ''I Pagliacci'', ''Marie-Magdeleine'', ''Sigurd'', and ''Hérodiade''. In Algiers
and Oran, he
sang ''William Tell'' and ''La Juive''. His next undertaking was to participate in 22
opera and oratorio concerts at Queen's Hall, London, under Sir Henry Wood. After another
tour of France and Algeria, he returned to Quebec
City in August 1913 with his wife, the singer Isabelle de Besson
(Mlle Jeynevald), whom he had met in Constantine
and married in Lyons
in 1909. In 1914 Mercier founded the Institut d'art vocal. He taught there
until his death. In 1931 he was named honorary president of the newly founded
Association des chanteurs de Québec. He wrote a series of articles, 'Classement
et pose de la voix,' which appeared in La Musique in 1919, and in 1923 he
published Souvenirs de ma carrière artistique, reprinted under the title 'Gerbe
de souvenirs' in his study Technique de musique vocale (Quebec City 1928). He composed numerous
songs, including 'Ce que je chante,' Opus 65, which was published in 1918, and
'France et Canada,' Opus
106, published in 1929. A number of his works are held at the ANQ in Quebec.
Chronology of some appearances
1899 Paris Opéra-Comique
1901 London Covent Garden
RECORDINGS FOR SALE
Colombia, New York 1915
Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer): L'entrée de Raoul E2376 45649
Chanson de l'adieu (Tosti) E2377 45659
France E2380 45652
La Huronne E2377
Marie Magdeleine (Massenet): Heureux ceux qui vivront E2375
Mireille (Gounod): La foi de son flambeau divin with Isa Jeynevald E2375
Musette du XVIIe siècle E2378 45658
Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours! E2378
Tosca (Puccini): Oh! de beautés égales
Zingarella E2380 45656
No comments:
Post a Comment