Charles Cambon (Baritone) (Florensac, France 1892 – Paris, France 1966)

He began studies at the Conservatory of Toulouse, then the National Conservatory of Paris. Starting in 1923, he was a chorister at the Grand Opéra of Paris and sang there in the following years a multitude of small roles. From 1930 until his retirement in 1953, he appeared at the Grand Opéra in the great heroic baritone roles: Rigoletto, Amonasro, the Flying Dutchman (1940), Valentin, the High Priest in ''Samson et Dalila'', Silvio in ''Pagliacci'', Hérode in Massenet's ''Hérodiade'' and as the Bishop in his ''Esclarmonde''. However, he continued to appear in smaller rôles including Orestes in the premier of Strauss' ''Elektra'' in 1932 and Altoum in the premiere of Puccini's ''Turandot'' in 1928. In 1924 he sang in the world premiere of Charles-Marie Widor's opera ''Nerto''; in 1936 in that of Georges Enescu's opera ''Oedipe''. In 1942 at the Grand Opéra, he took part in the first French performance of Hans Pfitzner's ''Palestrina''. He completed a lengthy guest engagement at the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona and in 1937 he made a guest appearance at London's Covent Garden. He was frequently to be found on the French provincial stages, and often appeared in such French provincial houses as Nice. At the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1945 he sang for the only time Zurga in Bizet's ''Pecheurs des perles''. He became well-known in France for his his appearances in radio opera performances. On these he was heard as (among other roles) Iago in Verdi's ''Otello'', as Hamlet in Thomas' opera of the same name, as Count di Luna in ''Trovatore'' and as Athanaël in Massenet's ''Thaïs''

Chronology of some appearances

1930-1953 Paris Grand Opéra

RECORDINGS FOR SALE

Polydor 1932
Le Roi de Lahore: (Massenet): Romesse de mon avenir 522455
Paillasse (Leoncavallo): Duo Nedda-Silvio with Bernadette Lemichel du Roy 522405
Sigurd (Reyer): Et toi, Freia 522391
Rigoletto (Verdi): Tous deux égaux 522406
Samson et Dalila (Saint-Sens): Maudite à jamais soit la race 522455
Le Trouvère (Verdi): Tout est désert 522472
Guillaume Tell (Rossini): Sois immobile 522406

Polydor 1931
Les Pêcheurs de Perles (Bizet): L’orage s’est calmé 516524
La Favorite (Donizetti): Pour tant d’amour 516252
Faust (Gounod): Avant de quitter ces lieux 522455