Antoine Trial (13 October 1737,
Avignon – 5 February 1795, Paris) was a French singer and actor. He was the younger brother of the musician Jean-Claude Trial (1732–1771) and husband of soprano Marie-Jeanne Milon, stage name Félicité Mandeville (1746–1818).
After an education at the
cathedral in Avignon, he followed his older brother to Paris in 1764 and joined the troupe of
the Prince of Conti. On 4 July the same year, he made his debut at the
Comédie-Italienne as Bastien in ''Le Sorcier'' by
Philidor. On 12 December he sang the second tenor (a comic role) at
Versailles in the court revival of
Mondonville's ''
Daphnis et Alcimadure'', alongside the former stars of the
Académie Royale de Musique,
Marie Fel and
Pierre Jelyotte.
[Cf. 1764 court libretto, ''Daphnis et Alcimadure, Pastorale languedocienne, Représentée devant leurs Majestés à Versailles, le 12 Décembre 1764'', Paris, Ballard, 1764 (accessible for free online a]
Gallica.bnf.fr
Although considered an excellent actor and musician, his
haute-contre voice was thin and nasal, and he specialised in the roles of peasants and servants. His roles included Bertrand in ''
Le déserteur'', Ali in ''
Zémire et Azor,'' La Fleur in
Monvel’s ''L'Erreur d'un moment'', and André in ''
L’épreuve villageoise''. ''Trial'' became a French term for a tenor with a thin, nasal voice, examples being in the operas of
Ravel and in ''
The Tales of Hoffmann''.
He sided with
Robespierre in 1793 and became active in the
Terror. After the fall of Robespierre he was forced to abandon the theatre and poisoned himself.
References
;Notes
;Sources
* Cotte RJV. Trial, French family of musicians. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.
1737 births
1795 deaths
Musicians from the Papal States
French operatic tenors
French male stage actors
Musicians from Avignon
Suicides by poison
18th-century French male actors
18th-century French male opera singers
18th-century suicides
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