Jean-Blaise Martin, full name Nicolas Jean-Blaise Martin
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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 ...

singer whose

tessitura In music, tessitura ( , , ; ; ) is the most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer (or, less frequently, musical instrument). It is the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding (or characteristic) tim ...

lay between

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 ...

and

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 ...

, which became later known as " baryton-martin".

Life and career

Jean-Blaise Martin began singing publicly as a child, before his voice broke. He made his professional operatic debut in 1789, at the Théâtre Feydeau, in Paris, in a parody called . He then studied with Madame Dugazon, and 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 1794, and sang there until 1823. He became a member of the theatre's administrative committee in 1801. He also taught at the Conservatoire de Musique of Paris, from 1825 to 1837. He composed one

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 ...

, , produced at the Théâtre Feydeau in 1796. During his career, he created some 15 roles in operas by Nicolas Dalayrac, François Devienne, André Grétry,

Étienne Méhul Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 22 June 1763 – 18 October 1817) was a French composer of the late Classical period (music), classical and early Romantic period (music), romantic periods. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France ...

, Nicolas Isouard,

Ferdinando Paer Ferdinando Paer (1 June 1771 – 3 May 1839) was an Italian composer known for his operas. He was of Austrian descent and used the German spelling Pär in application for printing in Venice, and later in France the spelling Paër. Life He was bor ...

, etc. Martin's voice was described as a "", meaning a deep-voiced dark tenor, or as a "", meaning a clear-voiced high baritone; the compass was E flat to a, with a

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

extension to a'. His vocal type became known as , most often found in French

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

. Modern examples of this voice type include French baritone Michel Dens, and more recently Bernard Sinclair, who can be heard in a few operetta recordings such as ''

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 ...

'', '' Les cloches de Corneville'', and '' Valses de Vienne''. In the operatic repertoire, the most famous role for is Pelléas in

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

's '' Pelléas et Mélisande''. Camille Maurane and Jacques Jansen are widely recognized as having been the best exponents of the role.

Roles created

*1804: A bard in '' Ossian, ou Les bardes'' by

Jean-François Le Sueur Jean-François Le Sueur (more commonly Lesueur; ; 15 February 17606 October 1837) was a French composer, best known for his oratorios and operas. Life He was born at Plessiel, a hamlet of Drucat near Abbeville, to a long-established family of P ...

*1821: Barnabé in '' Le maître de chapelle'' by

Sources

* Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), ''Guide de l’opéra'', Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995).

References

Biography of Jean-Blaise Martin (in German) at Operissimo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Jean-Blaise 1768 births 1837 deaths Singers from Paris French operatic baritones Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery