He studied singing at
the Conservatoire National de Paris under Lhérie and Melchissèdec and made his
debut 1901 at the Paris Opéra-Comique as Richard in the premiere of ‘’L'Ouragan’’
by Alfred Bruneau. In 1902 he appeared there also in the premiere of ‘’La Carmélite’’
by R. Hahn. Since 1904 he was a solist of the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels,
where he had a huge success till 1910. He made appearances in the Brussels
premières of the operas ‘’Le Jongleur de Notre Dame’’ (1904), ‘’Pelléas et
Mélisande’’ of Debussy (1907, as Golo), ‘’Le Chemineau’’ of Xavier Leroux (1908) and ‘’Monna Vanna’’ by
Henri Février (1909, as Guido Colonna). On 22. 11. 1919 he participated in the
premiere of the opera ‘’Taras Bulba’’of Marcel Samuel-Rousseau (Théâtre Lyrique
de Vaudeville, Paris). In 1912 he appeared at La Scala as Ramon in the opera ’’La
Habanera’’ of R. Laparra. He achieved great
success also during of guest performances at the Covent Garden in London: In
1909 as Golo in the English première of ‘’Pelléas et Mélisande’’ and as Valentin
in C. Gounod’s ‘’Faust’’. In 1910 he
sang also in the première of the opera ‘’La Habanéra’’ by Raoul Laparra. At the Opéra de Monte-Carlo he
performed as Figaro in ‘’Il Barbiere di Siviglia’’, Escamillo in ‘’Carmen’’, Hérode
in ‘’Hérodiade’’ , Wolfram in ‘’Tannhäuser’’. On 4. 3. 1913 he sang there in
the premiere of the opera ‘’Pénélope’’ of Gabriel Fauré as Eumée. On 21. 3. 1914
he appeared in the premiere of Messager’s ‘’Béatrice’’. In 1911 he participated
in the première of the opera ‘’Ivan le Terrible’’ of Raoul Gunsbourg (Théâtre
Lyrique de la Gaîté, Paris). In 1914 he sang at the Paris Grand Opéra the part
of Guido in ‘’Monna Vanna’’ and also performed in ‘’Les Burgraves’’of Léo
Sachs. In 1921 he appeared in Rio de Janeiro as Clavaroche in ‘’Fortunio’’ of
A. Messager. In 1929 he was a member of the cast in Strasbourg in performances
of the Nibelungenrings (as Alberich). By the end of his career he was active in
Southern French operatic stages.
Chronology of some
appearances
1901 Paris
Opéra-Comique L'Ouragan (Richard)
1902 Paris
Opéra-Comique La Carmélite
1904 Brussels Théâtre de la Monnaie Le Jongleur de Notre Dame
1907 Brussels Théâtre de la Monnaie Pelléas
et Mélisande
1908 Brussels Théâtre de la Monnaie Le
Chemineau
1909 Brussels Théâtre de la Monnaie Monna
Vanna
1909 London Covent Garden Pelléas et
Mélisande
1910 London Covent Garden La Habanera
(Ramon)
1911 Paris Théâtre Lyrique de la
Gaîté Ivan le Terrible
1912 Milano La Scala La Habanera
(Ramon)
1913 Opéra de Monte-Carlo Pénélope
1914 Opéra de Monte-Carlo Béatrice
1919 Paris Théâtre Lyrique de
Vaudeville
