Charles-Henri Edmond Duvernoy (16 June 184412 January 1927) was a French pianist,

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

and vocal teacher, from a family of musicians.Fétis F-J. ''Biographie universelle des musiciens.'' Paris, 1878.

Life and career

Edmond Duvernoy was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He was taught initially by his father, Charles-François Duvernoy, then studied at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

. A fine pianist, he began to teach, then studied singing, joining 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 ...

company. He made his stage debut as Mercutio in the first performance at the Opéra-Comique of

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 ...

's ''

Roméo et Juliette ''Roméo et Juliette'' (, ''Romeo and Juliet'') is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on ''Romeo and Juliet'' by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Ly ...

'' on 20 January 1873. He also sang Moralès in the premiere of

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...

's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' in 1875; Bizet composed three versions of the ''mélodrame'' in Act 1 for Duvernoy. According to Malherbe, he had a relatively soft voice, but he used it with good taste, and with sufficient talent to enable him to become later one of the most esteemed vocal teachers.Soubies A, Malherbe C. ''Histoire de l'opéra comique — La seconde salle Favart 1840–1887.'' Flammarion, Paris, 1893. He sang Ganymède in ''Galathée'' in 1873, alongside his future wife, Mlle Franck, a soprano of the Opéra-Comique. Duvernoy and his wife moved to the Théâtre-Lyrique in 1877. Both of them participated in the private 'premiere' of Offenbach's ''

Les contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

'' on 18 May 1879, Duvernoy playing the piano.Wolff, Stéphane. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique 1900–1950.'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. From October 1887 to 1910 Duvernoy was a singing professor at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

, with many important artists among his pupils including the Finnish

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Aino Ackté Aino Ackté (originally Achte; 24 April 18768 August 1944) was a Finland, Finnish dramatic soprano. She was the first international star of the Finnish opera scene after Alma Fohström, and a groundbreaker for the domestic field. Biography Ack ...

and Hanna Granfelt. He also composed some songs. He died in Paris in 1927, aged 82. His brother was Alphonse Duvernoy, pianist and composer.

References

Sources

* ''Pierre Key's international music year book''. Pierre Key, New York 1928. * Brigitte Labat-Poussin, Jean Favier: ''Archives du theatre national de l'opera. Inventaire''. Archives Nationales, Paris 1977. {{DEFAULTSORT:Duvernoy, Edmond 1844 births 1927 deaths Conservatoire de Paris alumni Singers from Paris French operatic baritones 19th-century French male classical pianists 19th-century French classical pianists Voice teachers Officers of the Legion of Honour Pupils of Antoine François Marmontel 19th-century French male opera singers