Emile Renan (28 June 1913 - 8 December 2001) was an American

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...

and

stage director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

who had a long association with the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

. He also performed as a guest artist with the other opera companies in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

throughout his career. He was particularly known for his portrayal of

buffo Opera buffa (, "comic opera"; : ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesc ...

roles and for his work in 20th century operas.

Biography

Born and raised in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Renan studied voice under Eleanor McLellan and John Daggett Howell in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Early on in his career he became the first singer to sound a note on the NYCO stage, portraying Sacristan in the NYCO's inaugural opera production, Puccini's ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'', on 21 February 1944. He went on to sing more than thirty-two more roles with the company over the next fifteen years, mostly in

parts. He sang in many twentieth century operas at the NYCO, including the world premieres of

David Tamkin David Tamkin (28 August 1906 – 21 June 1975) was an American composer of Jewish descent, born in Chernihiv, Russian Empire. He devoted much of his professional career as an arranger, composer ncreditedand orchestrator of film scores for Hollywoo ...

's ''

The Dybbuk ''The Dybbuk'', or ''Between Two Worlds'' (, trans. ''Mezh dvukh mirov ibuk'; , ''Tsvishn Tsvey Veltn – der Dibuk'') is a play by S. An-sky, authored between 1913 and 1916. It was originally written in Russian and later translated into Yidd ...

'' (as Meyer, 1951) and

Robert Kurka Robert Frank Kurka (December 22, 1921 – December 12, 1957) was an American composer, who also taught and conducted his own works. Biography Kurka was born in Cicero, Illinois. He was mostly self-taught as a musician. He studied for short period ...

's ''

The Good Soldier Schweik ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (as the Army doctor, 1958). He also portrayed Baron Regnard in the premiere of the revised version of Robert Ward's ''

He Who Gets Slapped ''He Who Gets Slapped'' () is a play in four acts by Russian dramatist Leonid Andreyev; completed in August 1915 and first produced in that same year at the Moscow Art Theatre on October 27, 1915. Immensely popular with Russian audiences, the ...

'' (1959). Some of his other roles with the company included Beckmesser in Wagner's ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'', the Principál komediantů in ''

The Bartered Bride ''The Bartered Bride'' (, ''The Sold Bride'') is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It ...

'', and Oscar Hubbard in '' Regina'' Renan also sang with other opera companies throughout North America during his career, including the

American Opera Company The American Opera Company was the name of six different opera companies active in the United States. The first company was founded in New York City in February 1886, but lasted only one season. The second company grew out of the Eastman School of M ...

, the

Baltimore Opera Company The Baltimore Opera Company (BOC) was an opera company in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, based at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House. On March 12, 2009, the 58-year-old opera company announced plans to pursue Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidatio ...

, the

Opera Company of Boston The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts, that was active from the late 1950s through the 1980s. The company was founded by American conducting, conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Bo ...

, the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performin ...

, the Columbia Opera Company, the

Chicago Opera Company The Chicago Opera Company was a grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design a ...

, the

Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is an American opera company located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1955 by German-born impresario Walter Herbert and three local Houstonians,Giesberg, Robert I., Carl Cunningham, and Alan Rich. ''Houston Grand Opera at ...

Miami Opera Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is an American opera company based in Miami, Florida. It is the oldest performing arts organization in Florida and the seventh oldest opera company in the United States. FGO was created in 1994 from the consolidation of ...

, the

NBC Opera Theatre The NBC Opera Theatre (sometimes mistakenly spelled NBC Opera Theater and sometimes referred to as the NBC Opera Company) was an American opera company operated by the National Broadcasting Company from 1949 to 1964. The company was established spe ...

, the

New Orleans Opera Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in ...

Opéra de Montréal LOpéra de Montréal () is an opera company in Montreal, Canada. It performs at the Place des Arts theatre complex in downtown Montreal, in the borough of Ville-Marie. It was founded in 1980 as a company focused on productions in French. Hi ...

, the

Palacio de Bellas Artes The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It hosts performing arts events, literature events and plastic arts galleries and exhibitions (including important permanent Mexican murals). "Bella ...

, the

Pittsburgh Opera Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts Sch ...

, the

San Antonio Grand Opera Festival The San Antonio Grand Opera Festival (sometimes referred to as the San Antonio Opera Festival or just the San Antonio Opera) was an annual opera festival presented by the San Antonio Symphony from 1945 to 1983. The festival presented four operas o ...

, and the

Vancouver Opera Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada. Its mainstage performances occur in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, other venues in Vancouver and occasionally el ...

. After retiring from the stage in the early 1960s, Renan taught for many years on the voice faculty at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

and worked as a stage director. For the NYCO he directed two productions in 1965, ''

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 ...

'' and ''

I Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...

''. He died in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

at the age of 88.

References

External links

Broadway World - Theatre Credits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renan, Emile 1913 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American male opera singers American operatic bass-baritones