Alexis Dupont
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Alexis Dupont (1796 – 29 May 1874) was a French operatic tenor who sang at the
Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...
from 1821 to 1823 and the
Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
from 1826 to 1841.Kutsch & Riemens 2003, p. 1256; Schulman 1992. Concerning the date of his retirement from the Paris Opera, Kutsch & Riemens and Schulman say Dupont sang there until 1840, after which he retired from further opera performances. However, Lajarte 1878
p. 148
gives the year 1841 for Dupont's appearances in ''Don Juan''. This is confirmed by ''
Le Ménestrel ''Le Ménestrel'' (, ''The Minstrel'') was an influential French music journal published weekly from 1833 until 1940. It was founded by Joseph-Hippolyte l'Henry and originally printed by Poussièlgue. In 1840 it was acquired by the music publishe ...
'', which mentions that Dupont replaced Marie in ''Don Juan'' in th
issue of 18 April 1841
but also mentions the retirement of M. and Mme Alexis Dupont in th
issue of 27 June 1841
There he created a number of roles in operas by
Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...
, Auber, Halévy and Meyerbeer. He had a significant association with
Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...
, creating the tenor solo in '' Roméo et Juliette'' in 1839; and he sang in the Mozart ''Requiem'' at Chopin's funeral in 1849.


Career

He was born Pierre-Auguste Dupont, most likely in Paris, where he graduated from the Conservatory in 1818. He began his career as a concert singer, then made his debut at the Opéra-Comique in 1821 as Azor in Grétry's '' Zémire et Azor'' and also created the role of Charles in Auber's ''Emma, ou La promesse imprudente'' (7 July 1821). In 1823 Dupont left the Opéra-Comique in order to undertake further vocal training in Italy. After returning to France he made his debut at the Paris Opera in 1826 as Pylades in Gluck's ''
Iphigénie en Tauride ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' (, ''Iphigenia in Tauris'') is a 1779 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard. With ''Iphigénie,'' Gluck too ...
'' and continued to sing there until 1841. In July 1827, he sang in
Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...
's cantata ''La mort d'Orphée'' at its examination for the
Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...
. The examiners declared Berlioz's work unplayable, the Prix going to
Ernest Guiraud Ernest Guiraud (; 23 June 18376 May 1892) was an American-born French composer and music teacher. He is best known for writing the traditional orchestral recitatives used for Bizet's opera '' Carmen'' and for Offenbach's opera '' Les contes d ...
. Berlioz planned to prove them wrong, and arranged a public performance for May of the following year, with Dupont again singing. In the event, Dupont was ill, and Berlioz had to substitute the "Resurrexit" from his ''Messe solennelle'' (1824) for the concert. He was a foundation Sociétaire of the Société des concerts du Conservatoire, founded by François Habeneck (4 March 1828). Under the composer's baton, Dupont sang the tenor solo in the prologue of Berlioz's dramatic symphony ''Roméo et Juliette'' at the premiere on 24 November 1839. In August 1844 he took part in a "monster concert" staged by Berlioz, which involved 1,025 performers. Dupont was one of the 100 tenors in the chorus. In 1846 Charles Hervey described Dupont's voice as a "sweet but delicate organ
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
was drowned by the orchestra of the Académie Royal
he name of the Paris Opera at the time He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
. Among Dupont's most highly regarded roles at the Opera were Raimbaut in Meyerbeer's ''
Robert le diable ''Robert le diable'' (''Robert the Devil'') is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer between 1827 and 1831, to a libretto written in French by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. ''Robert le diable'' is regarded as one of the first ...
'', the title role in Rossini's '' Le comte Ory'', and above all, in 1841, Don Ottavio in ''Don Juan'', Castil-Blaze's infamous 1834 adaptation of Mozart's ''
Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
''. He participated at the consecration of the Grand Organ at the Church of the Madeleine in 1846. At the same church, he was to sing the tenor role in the Mozart ''Requiem'' at
Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...
's funeral in October 1849. One of his performances earned him a letter of congratulations signed by 21 members of the 1853 Comité de L'Association des Artistes musiciens, including names such as
Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...
,
Ambroise Thomas Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas ''Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet (opera), Hamlet'' (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the C ...
and
Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart and Richard Wa ...
.Schubertiade Music
/ref>
Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
dedicated his chanson "Où voulez-vous aller?" to Alexis Dupont. His wife was a noted
ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...
. Born Félicité Noblet in 1807, after marrying Alexis Dupont she also became known as Mme Alexis Dupont. She died in 1877. She was the sister of another ballerina, Lise Noblet, who danced the title part in Auber's ''
La muette de Portici ''La muette de Portici'' (''The Mute Girl of Portici'', or ''The Dumb Girl of Portici''), also called ''Masaniello'' () in some versions, is an opera in five acts by Daniel Auber, with a libretto by Germain Delavigne, revised by Eugène Scri ...
'' at its premiere, in which her brother-in-law Dupont also created a singing role. Alexis Dupont retired from opera in 1841 but continued to sing in public until 1856. In September 1856, having been involved in sex offences ("outrage public à la pudeur") committed with girls under the age of 21 years (the age of majority in France at this time), he was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment. He died in Paris, avenue des Ternes, on 29 May 1874.Death certificate number 931, Paris, 17e arrondissement.


Roles created by Dupont

The operatic roles he created (at the
Salle Le Peletier The Salle Le Peletier or Lepeletier (sometimes referred to as the Salle de la rue Le Peletier or the Opéra Le Peletier) was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and con ...
of the
Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
under the baton of François Habeneck, unless otherwise noted) include: * Eliézer in
Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...
's ''Moïse et Pharaon'', the Paris French adaptation of his '' Mosè in Egitto'' (26 March 1827; conducted by Henri Valentino) * Alphonse in Auber's ''
La muette de Portici ''La muette de Portici'' (''The Mute Girl of Portici'', or ''The Dumb Girl of Portici''), also called ''Masaniello'' () in some versions, is an opera in five acts by Daniel Auber, with a libretto by Germain Delavigne, revised by Eugène Scri ...
'' (29 February 1828, conducted by Valentino) * 1st Knight in Rossini's '' Le comte Ory'' (20 August 1828) * Ruodi, a fisherman in Rossini's ''William Tell'' (3 August 1829, conducted by Valentino) * the demon Asmodée in Halévy's opera-ballet '' La tentation'' (20 June 1832) * Warting in Auber's ''Gustave III'' (27 February 1833) * Tavannes in Meyerbeer's ''
Les Huguenots () is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836. Composition history '' ...
'' (29 February 1836) * Le Vicomte de Gif in Louise Bertin's ''La Esmeralda'' (14 November 1836).


References

;Notes ;Sources * Hervey, Charles (1846). ''The Theatres of Paris''. Paris: Galignani; London: John Mitchell. View copie
1
an
2
of the 1846 edition, an
the 1847 edition
at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
. * Kutsch, K. J. and Riemens, Leo (2003). ''
Großes Sängerlexikon ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The fi ...
'' (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur. . * Lajarte, Théodore (1878). ''Bibliothèque musicale du Théâtre de l'Opéra'', volume 2 793–1876 Paris: Librairie des Bibliophiles
View
at
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. * Schulman, Laurie C. (1992). "Dupont, Alexis" in Sadie 1992, vol. 1, p. 1280. * Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...
'' (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupont, Alexis 1796 births 1874 deaths French operatic tenors 19th-century French male opera singers