Fernand Smeets, better known under the name Fernand Faniard, 9 December 1894 in

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the Ci ...

– 3 August 1955 in Paris) was a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, 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 lo ...

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 ...

, born in Brussels and naturalized French in 1949.Carrière artistique du ténor
/ref> He was the son of "cafeteria owner" Lambert Leopold Jules Steems and Maria Joseph Marguerite Fagniard. Fernand's stage name refers to his mother's surname as a tribute. He received his musical training at the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Provid ...

with Laurent Swofs. His vocal range at the time was baritone. In that capacity he could also be seen and heard in the Royal Monnaie Theatre in Brussels. He left that theatre in 1926 for the Flemish Opera in Antwerp and was retrained as a tenor by Tilkin Servais and Eric Audoin. In 1928, he gave a guest performance at the Opera of Monte Carlo. He would return there regularly until 1934. Other performances took place in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice and Rouen. He returned occasionally to the Monnaie Theatre, but also to Liège, for example. He sang in Parma, but also in Algiers and Oran. In 1951, he sang in Strasbourg in the French

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

of the opera '' Mathis der Mahler'' by Paul Hindemith. According to Robijns, his voice was not popular in Italy because it was too classical. In 1929, he performed at Schouwburg Casino in Den Bosch. His voice has been preserved on several recordings. He is buried at

Ivry Cemetery Ivry Cemetery (''cimetière parisien d'Ivry'') is one of the extramural cemeteries of Paris, located in the neighbouring town of Ivry-sur-Seine in Val-de-Marne, less than 500 metres outside Paris's intramural area. As well as a green space, it is ...

, Ivry-sur-Seine.

References

External links

Fernand Faniard - Witte Rosen 1936.
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Faniard, Fernand 1894 births 1955 deaths People from Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Belgian operatic tenors Burials at Ivry Cemetery 20th-century Belgian male opera singers