Nicolas-Marie Simon (1852, in Reims, France – 1923), known as Simon-Max, was a French

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

who was mainly active in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in the field of opera-bouffe. After musical studies in Reims he made his debut in 1875 at the

Théâtre de la Renaissance The name Théâtre de la Renaissance has been used successively for three distinct Parisian theatre companies. The first two companies, which were short-lived enterprises in the 19th century, used the Salle Ventadour, now an office building on t ...

as Janio in ''La reine Indigo'' then on 9 September that year at the

Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue f ...

as Anatole de Quillembois in ''

Les cent vierges ''Les cent vierges'' (The Hundred Maidens) is an opérette in three acts, with music by Charles Lecocq and a libretto by Clairville (Louis-François Nicolaïe), Clairville, Henri Chivot and Alfred Duru. It was first produced at the Théâtre des ...

'' by Lecocq.Martin J. ''Nos artistes des théâtres et concerts.'' Paul Ollendorff, Paris, 1895. At the Folies-Dramatiques he went on to sing in the premieres of ''

Les cloches de Corneville ''Les cloches de Corneville'' (''The Bells of Corneville'', sometimes known in English as ''The Chimes of Normandy'') is an opéra-comique in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet. The st ...

'' on 17 April 1877 (Jean Grenicheux), '' La fille du tambour-major'' on 13 December 1879 and ''

Madame Favart ''Madame Favart'' is an opéra comique, or operetta, in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot. Performance history After defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870) ended Napoleon III' ...

'' on 28 December 1878 (Hector de Boispréau). Other premieres included Cottinet in ''Le petit Parisien'' (16 January 1882), Inigo in ''La princesse des Canaries'' (9 February 1883), Ischabod in the French premiere of ''Rip'' (11 November 1884), Planchet in ''Les petits mousquetaires'' (5 March 1885), Michel in ''Fanfan la tulipe'', (21 October 1882), Joseph Abrial in '' La fauvette du temple'' (17 November 1885), and singing in revivals of ''

La fille de Madame Angot ''La fille de Madame Angot'' (''Madame Angot's Daughter'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Charles Lecocq with words by Clairville, Paul Siraudin and Victor Koning. It was premiered in Brussels in December 1872 and soon became a success in ...

'' (Pomponnet) among others. He created Zizi in '' Ali-Baba'' in Brussels alongside his wife in 1887. Simon-Max then worked at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

, at the Gaité (Mignapour in ''Le grand Mogol'' in 1889, creating Pinsonnet in ''Le voyage de Suzette'' on 20 January 1890, Pierrot in ''Le petit poucet'' in 1891), at the

Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens () is a Parisian theatre founded in 1855 by the composer Jacques Offenbach for the performance of opéra bouffe and operetta. The current theatre is located in the 2nd arrondissement at 4 rue Monsigny with a ...

(Don Géranios in ''Madame la Présidente'', 1902, Plum-Quick in ''Florodora'', 1903, and a 1908 revival of ''La petite boheme'' as Barbemuche). Further appearances included the Théâtre de la Renaissance (Smithson in '' Miss Helyett'', 1900, Fritzchen in ''

Lischen et Fritzchen ''Lischen et Fritzchen'' is a one-act operetta (« conversation alsacienne » - Alsatian conversation) with music by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by ‘P Dubois’ (Paul Boisselot), first performed in 1863. Performance history The p ...

'', 1900); and at the Théâtre Dejazet (Martelin in ''Radinol a du coton'', 1901). While the proprietor of the casino in

Villerville Villerville () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. the commune is located towards the eastern end of the coastline called the Côte Fleurie (Flowery Coast). Composer Francis Bayer (1938–2004) ...

, a whale was beached which Simon-Max bought, selling the oil and flesh before conserving the skin and converting the body to a theatre large enough to take 100 in the audience. The bizarre character of the Théâtre Baleine helped the success of a show entitled « Jonas Revue ». The whale theatre was moved to Paris, but burnt down the following winter. He was the founding director of the Prévoyance théâtrale. During the run of ''Les cloches de Corneville'' he met and married the young soprano lead Juliette Simon-Girard.Gänzl K. Juliette Simon-Girard. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon-Max 1852 births 1923 deaths Musicians from Reims French operatic tenors 19th-century French male singers