Julien Lafont (Baritone) (? 1880 – ? 1970)

About the beginning of his career, whose real name was Jules Lafont, is known a little. In 1917 he was engaged by the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Here he appeared in numerous opera premieres:

1920 ‘’Lorenzaccio’’ (E. Moret)

1920 ‘’La Rôtisserie de la Reine Pedauque’’ (Charles Lavadé)

1920 ‘’Le Sauteriot’’ (Sylvio Lazzari)

1922 ‘’Quand la cloche sonnera’’ (A. Bachelet)

1923 ‘’La Hulla’’ (Samuel-Rouseeau)

1928 ‘’Angelo, Tyran de Padoue’’ (A. Bruneau)

1928 ‘’Riquet à la houppe’’ (Georges Hüe)

1928 ‘’Sarati le Terrible’’ (Francis Bousquet)

His repertoire included the Escamillo in ‘’Carmen’’, the Coppelius in ‘’Les Contes d'Hoffmann’’, the Lothario in ‘’Mignon’’ of  A. Thomas, the Nilakantha in ‘’Lakmé’’ of L. Delibes, the Comte des Grieux in J. Massenet’s ‘’Manon’’, the father in ‘’Louise’’ of G. Charpentier, Tonio in ‘’Pagliacci’’, the Scarpia in ‘’Tosca’’ and the Schaunard in ‘’La Bohème’’. At the Grand Opéra in Paris he appeared in 1925 as a guest (Scarpia in ‘’Tosca’’). At the Opéra de Monte-Carlo he sang regularly from 1925-27, 1934-39 and 1943-51. He appeared here in the premieres of the operas:

1925 ‘’L'Enfant et les sortilèges’’ (M. Ravel)

1926 ‘’Judith’’ (A. Honegger).

At the Opéra de Monte-Carlo his repertoire included the Mephisto in ‘’Faust’’ of C. Gounod, the Phanuël in ‘’Hérodiade’’of J. Massenet, the Abimelech in ‘’Samson et Dalila’’ of C. Saint-Saëns, the Arkel in ‘’Pelléas et Mélisande’’, the Hagen in ‘’Sigurd’’ of E. Reyer, Saint Bris in the ‘’Huguenots’’, Bartolo in "Figaros Hochzeit", the Sulpice in G. Donizetti’s ‘’La Fille du régiment’’, king Heinrich in ‘’Lohengrin’’, the Wotan in "Walküre" and the Gurnemanz in ‘’Parsifal’’. During the 1940’s he was active at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo also as a director.

RECORDINGS FOR SALE

Odeon, Paris 1927-10-26
Mignon (Thomas): Légères hirondelles with Vallin 188537 Ki1357
Mignon (Thomas): As-tu souffert? with Vallin 188537 Ki1358

Odeon, Paris 1927-10-31

Faust (Gounod): Que voulez-vous, messieurs (Trio du duel) with Maison & Bourdin 123.509 xxP6526

Odeon, Paris 1927-11-02

Faust (Gounod): Me voici, d'ou vient ta surprise? with Maison 123.510 xxP6528
Faust (Gounod): O merveille with Maison 123.510 xxP6529

Panis angelicus (Franck) 123513 xxP 6539

Odeon, Paris 1928-13-22
La favorita (Donizetti): Léonora vient 188569A Ki 1583