HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gustave-Hippolyte Roger (17 December 1815 – 12 September 1879) was a French
tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
. He is best known for creating the leading tenor roles in '' La damnation de Faust'' by
Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...
in 1846 and Meyerbeer's ''
Le prophète ''Le prophète'' (''The Prophet'') is a grand opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, which was premiered in Paris on 16 April 1849. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, after passages from the ''Essay on the ...
'' in 1849.


Early years and education

Born in Paris and orphaned at an early age, Roger was brought up in Paris by his uncle. He entered the Paris Conservatoire and studied with Blès Martin. At the completion of his training, he won first prize in singing and declamation.


Career

In 1838, Roger made his professional 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 ...
, Paris, in ''L’éclair'' by Fromental Halévy. He went on to create numerous leading roles in new operas with that company, including works by
Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally whe ...
(Raphaël in '' La Part du Diable'', 1843 and Lorédan in '' Haydée'', 1847, and others), Halévy (Edgard in '' Le shérif'', 1839, Olivier in ''Les Mousquetaires de la Reine'', 1846, and others). Roger was the first Marquis in ''Perruquier de la Régence'' by
Ambroise Thomas Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas ''Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet (opera), Hamlet'' (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the C ...
in 1838 and at the same theatre in 1846, the first Faust in ''La damnation de Faust'' by Hector Berlioz. He won praise for his clear, pure tone, his skill as a stage performer, and his musical intelligence. In 1848, after a tour of England with soprano Jenny Lind he moved from the Opéra-Comique to the Opéra where he created the title role in Meyerbeer's extremely successful opera ''Le prophète'' in 1849. He also created roles there in ''L’Enfant prodigue'' by Auber, 1850, in '' Le Juif errant'' of Halévy, 1852, and in '' Herculanum'' by
Félicien David Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer. Biography Félicien David was born in Cadenet, and began to study music at the age of five under his father, whose death when the boy was six left him an impoverish ...
, 1859, as well as singing in revivals of popular works such as '' La favorite'' and '' Lucia di Lammermoor'' of Donizetti and ''
Les Huguenots () is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836. Composition history '' ...
'' of Meyerbeer. Between 1850 and 1860, Roger made seven highly successful concert tours of Germany.


Later years

In 1859, Roger had to have an arm amputated after a hunting accident. Nevertheless, with an artificial arm, he continued to sing in concerts and in opera productions. From 1868 until his death, Roger taught singing at the Paris Conservatoire.


Critical assessment

In the opinion of some contemporary critics, Gustave-Hippolyte Roger was perfectly suited, both as singer and actor, for the kind of roles with which he began his career at the Opéra-Comique, but some of the music he had to sing in roles at the larger Paris Opera,such as his most famous part, Jean in ''Le prophète'', was too heavy for his voice and caused vocal decline.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roger, Gustave-Hippolyte 1815 births 1879 deaths Singers from Paris French operatic tenors 19th-century French male opera singers Conservatoire de Paris alumni Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris