Fernand Francell
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Fernand Francell (9 November 1879 – 18 February 1966, 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 ...
) was a French tenor and later actor and vocal teacher who was particularly associated with the Opéra-Comique.L'Art Lyrique website
accessed 25 September 2015.


Career

Born Fernand Claude Eugène François in
Gevrey-Chambertin Gevrey-Chambertin () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department of France in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France.
, he studied singing 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 ...
as a pupil of Isnardon in the
opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...
class and with Rose Caron in vocal studies. He made his debut 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 ...
in Paris in September 1906 as Vincent in ''
Mireille Mireille () is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name ''Mirèio'' (or ''Mirèlha'' in the classical norm of Occitan, ). It could be related to the Occitan verb ''mirar'' "to look, to admire" or to the given names ''Miriam'' " ...
'' by Gounod, going on later that year to sing in the premiere of the one-act ''Le Bonhomme Jadis'' by Dalcroze (Octave) and the role of Prince Yamadori in the French premiere of ''
Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...
'' by Puccini. His other creations at the Opéra-Comique included ''Chiquito'' (the title role), ''La Danseuse de Pompéi'' (as Hyacinthe), '' Fortunio'' (title role), ''La Marchande d'allumettes'' (Gréham) ''Le Mariage de Télémaque'' (Télémaque), ''Solange'' (Frédéric), and in a double bill of the Paris premiere of '' La vida breve'' (singing Paco), coupled with ''Francesca da Rimini'' by Leoni (Paolo). In 1908 Francell appeared at the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris, in a new production of ''
La Basoche ''La Basoche'' is an opéra comique in three acts, with music by André Messager and words by Albert Carré. The opera is set in Paris in 1514 and depicts the complications that arise when the elected "king" of the student guild, the Basoche, ...
'' alongside
André Baugé André Gaston Baugé (4 January 1893, Toulouse - 25 May 1966, Clichy-la-Garenne) was a French baritone, active in opera and operetta, who also appeared in films in the 1930s.Steane JB. André Baugé. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macm ...
,
Edmée Favart Edmée Favart (1879 – 29 October 1941) was a French soprano who had a varied and major career in opera and opéra comique and left many recordings of songs from roles she performed on stage. Life and career Favart was born in Paris, the dau ...
and
Lucien Fugère Lucien Fugère (; 22 July 1848, Paris – 15 January 1935, Paris) was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory and Mozart roles. He enjoyed an exceptionally long career, singing into his 80s. Life and career Fugère's ...
, also singing
Wilhelm Meister Wilhelm Meister is the main character in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novels ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' and its sequel '' Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years''. Description and history Wilhelm Meister's story concerns how he comes from a ...
in ''
Mignon ''Mignon'' () is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. ...
''. He had a great success as Mârouf in Nice in 1921, and in 1922 he made a foray into comédie musicale with ''Monsieur l'Amour'' and ''Le Secret de Polichinelle''.’L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en France (1918-1940)’ (http://comedie-musicale.jgana.fr/index.htm), accessed 18.08.09. Other roles at the Salle Favart included Ange Pitou in ''
La Fille de Madame Angot ''La fille de Madame Angot'' (, ''Madame Angot's Daughter'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Charles Lecocq with words by Clairville (Louis-François Nicolaïe), Clairville, Paul Siraudin and Victor Koning. It was premiered in Brussels in ...
'', Almaviva in '' Le Barbier de Séville'', Clément Marot in ''La Basoche'', Rodolphe in ''La Bohème'', Don José in ''
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 ...
'', the title role in '' Les Contes d’Hoffmann'', Georges in ''
La Dame blanche ''La dame blanche'' (, ''The White Lady'') is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer François-Adrien Boieldieu. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and is based on episodes from no fewer than five works of the Scottish wri ...
'', Alexis in '' Le Déserteur'', Ottavio in ''
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 ...
'', Tamino in ''The Magic Flute'', the title role in ''
Fra Diavolo Fra Diavolo (lit. Brother Devil; 7 April 1771–11 November 1806), is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an "inspirational practitioner of popular insurrection". P ...
'', Pedro in ''La Habanera'', Jean in ''Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame'', the title role in ''
Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...
'', Gérald in ''
Lakmé ''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the '' Opéra-Comique'' at the (second) Salle Fa ...
'', Des Grieux in ''Manon'', Pelléas in '' Pelléas et Mélisande'', Nicias in ''Phryné'', and Jean in ''Sapho''. He left only a few recordings; for Odeon ''La Traviata'' 'De ma folle jeunesse' and ''Fortunio'' 'Si vous croyez que je vais dire', for Eden Disques ''Mignon'' 'Adieu, Mignon, courage' and, for Lyraphon, ''Fortunio'' 'J'aimais la vieille maison grise'. He was the dedicatee of “Parfois, je suis triste”, the third song in
Lili Boulanger Marie-Juliette Boulanger (; 21 August 189315 March 1918), professionally known as Lili Boulanger (), was a French composer and musician who was the first female winner of the Grand Prix de Rome composition prize. Her older sister was the noted ...
’s cycle ‘Clairières dans le Ciel’. In the 1930s Francell appeared in the films ''
Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) is a 1921 French silent adventure film serial directed by Henri Diamant-Berger based on the 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. Plot summary Cast * Aimé Simon-Girard ... d'Artagnan * Henri Rollan ... Athos ...
'' (as Louis XIII) in 1932 and '' L'Appel du silence'' in 1936. His daughter was the singer and well-known stage and film actress
Jacqueline Francell Jacqueline Francell (24 March 1908, in Paris – 12 October 1962, in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French singer, stage and film actress. As a singer she also appeared in opera at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and created the role of Princess Bla ...
(1908-1962).Bibliothèque nationale de France : Jacqueline Francell (1908-1962)
accessed 25 September 2015.
They both appeared in ''L'Appel du silence''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francell, Fernand 1879 births 1966 deaths Conservatoire de Paris alumni French operatic tenors People from Côte-d'Or French male film actors 20th-century French male opera singers