Jean Vieuille () was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

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 ...

singer (born Paris, 14 February 1902, died Saint-Georges-de-Didonne, 6 April 1967) who enjoyed a long stage career mainly centred at the Paris Opéra-Comique.

Life and career

His teachers were

Albert Carré Albert Carré (; born Strasbourg 22 June 1852, died Paris 12 December 1938) was a French theatre director, opera director, actor and librettist. He was the nephew of librettist Michel Carré (1821–1872) and cousin of cinema director Michel Ca ...

, Léon David and his uncle,

Félix Vieuille Félix Vieuille (; 15 October 1872 in Saujon – 28 February 1953 in Saujon) was a French operatic bass who sang for more than four decades with the Opéra-Comique in Paris during the first half of the twentieth century. He created roles in nume ...

. He made his debut as the Count in ''

Le Nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

'' by Mozart in 1926 at the Théâtre Trianon Lyrique, and undertook a season at the Théâtre Municipal in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. From 1928 to 1958 Vieuille sang mainly at the Paris

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 ...

, and from 1950 also at the

Paris Opéra 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 kn ...

. His repertoire included Carmagnola in '' Les Brigands'', Nicklauss and Lindorf in ''

Les Contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

'', Dancaïre and Escamillo 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 ...

'', Angelotti in ''

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 ...

'', Melot in ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

'', Marcel in ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'', and Albert in ''

Werther ''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...

''. He sang in the premieres of ''La Peau de Chagrin'' by Charles Levadé (1929), ''Le Sicilien'' by

Omer Letorey Omer Letorey (4 May 1873 – 21 March 1938) was a French composer. Born in Chalon-sur-Saône, from 1887 Letorey attended the music school of Louis Niedermeyer. From 1891 he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Émile Pessard; at the same ti ...

(1930), ''Gargantua'' by

Antoine Mariotte Antoine Mariotte (22 December 187530 November 1944) was a French composer, conductor and music administrator. Biography Mariotte was born in Avignon (Vaucluse) in 1875. After studies at the School of Saint-Michel in Saint-Étienne, he entered n ...

(1935), ''Ginevra'' by Marcel Bertrand (1942), ''Guignol'' by

André Bloch André Bloch may refer to: *André Bloch (composer) (1873–1960), French composer *André Bloch (mathematician) André Bloch (20 November 1893 – 11 October 1948) was a French mathematician who is best remembered for his fundamental contributio ...

(1949), ''Marion ou La Belle au Tricorne'' by

Pierre Wissmer Pierre Wissmer (30 October 1915 – 4 November 1992) was a 20th-century French classical composer of Swiss origin. Biography Formed at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, he received the advice of Robert Casadesus before perfecting his m ...

(1951) and ''Dolores'' by Michel-Maurice Levy (1952). In 1948 he appeared in a

Jean Loubignac Jean Alexandre Loubignac (23 November 1901 - 4 March 1991) was a French film director.Jean Loubignac
sur ...

film '' Le Barbier de Séville'' (based on the Rossini opera), as Pédrille.

Recordings

Vieuille sang in complete 1950s recordings of ''Carmen'' (conducted by Albert Wolff, and by

André Cluytens Augustin Zulma Alphonse "André" Cluytens (, ; 26 March 19053 June 1967)Baeck E. ''André Cluytens: Itinéraire d’un chef d’orchestre.'' Editions Mardaga, Wavre, 2009. was a Belgian-born French conducting, conductor who was active in the conce ...

), as Brétigny in ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...

'' (with

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1 ...

), '' Pelléas et Mélisande'' (conducted by Cluytens) and ''La Poule noire'' (conducted by Richard Blareau). He had previously recorded songs from ''Ciboulette'', ''Monsieur Beaucaire'', ''La Mascotte'' and ''Véronique'' and mélodies by Hahn for

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

References

French operatic baritones 1902 births 1967 deaths Operatic bass-baritones Singers from Paris 20th-century French male opera singers {{France-opera-singer-stub