Roger Bourdin (14 June 1900 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 ...

– 14 September 1973 in Paris) was a French

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 ...

, particularly associated with the French repertory. His career was largely based in France. His daughter is

Françoise Bourdin Françoise Bourdin (; 1952 – 25 December 2022) was a French novelist. Biography Françoise Bourdin was born in Paris, France. Her father Roger Bourdin and her mother Géori Boué were both professional opera singers. As a child she was intere ...

Life and career

Born in the

19th arrondissement of Paris The 19th arrondissement of Paris (''XIXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-neuvième''. The arrondissement, known as Butte-Chaumont, ...

, Bourdin studied at the

Conservatoire de Paris 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 ...

, where he was a pupil of André Gresse and

Jacques Isnardon Jacques Isnardon (15 February 1860 – 14 November 1930) was a French bass-baritone, writer and voice teacher. After winning a competition at the Paris Conservatory, he made his debut as Baxter in Émile Paladilhe's ''Diane (Paladilhe), Diane'' ...

. He 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 ...

in 1922, as Lescaut 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 ...

''. His debut at the

Palais Garnier The (, Garnier Palace), also known as (, Garnier Opera), is a historic 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the ...

took place in 1942, in

Henri Rabaud Henri Benjamin Rabaud (10 November 187311 September 1949) was a French conductor, composer and teacher, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of the t ...

's '' Mârouf, savetier du Caire''. The major part of his career was to be spent between these two theatres, where he created some 30 roles, among them the title role in Milhaud's ''Bolivar''. Bourdin seldom performed outside France, but did a few guest appearances at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in London (including Pelléas to the Mélisande of

Maggie Teyte Dame Maggie Teyte (born Margaret Tate; 17 April 188826 May 1976) was an English operatic soprano and interpreter of French art song. Early years Margaret Tate was born in Wolverhampton, England, one of ten children of Jacob James Tate, a suc ...

in 1930),Obituary - Roger Bourdin. ''

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 ...

'', January 1974, Vol 25 No.1, p.74.

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

in Milan, and the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

in Buenos Aires. He also sang in the first performance of surviving fragments of Chabrier's ''

Vaucochard et fils Ier is an unfinished by Emmanuel Chabrier of which only some numbers survive. The French libretto was by Paul Verlaine.Delage R. ''Emmanuel Chabrier''. Paris, Fayard, 1999 (Catalogue des Oeuvres). Background In the early 1860s Chabrier was a close ...

'' on 22 April 1941 at the Salle du

Conservatoire A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

with Germaine Cernay, conducted by

Roger Désormière Roger Désormière () (13 September 1898 – 25 October 1963) was a French conducting, conductor. He was an enthusiastic champion of contemporary composers, but also conducted performances of early eighteenth century French music. Life and career ...

. His most memorable roles were: Clavaroche in

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty , opérettes and other stage works, among which his ballet (1 ...

's ''Fortunio'', Metternich in

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

and

Jacques Ibert Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert (15 August 1890 – 5 February 1962) was a French composer of 20th-century classical music, classical music. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoir ...

's ''L'Aiglon'', Duparquet in

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn de Echenagucia (9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born ...

's ''Ciboulette'', Lheureux in

Emmanuel Bondeville Emmanuel Bondeville was a French composer and music administrator, born 29 October 1898 in Rouen, and died 26 November 1987 in Paris. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Biography As a young man he was organist at the church of Sai ...

's ''

Madame Bovary ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' (; ), commonly known as simply ''Madame Bovary'', is the début novel by France, French writer Gustave Flaubert, originally published in 1856 and 1857. The eponymous character, Emma Bovary, lives beyond he ...

'', the lead in

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...

's ''Bolivar'', but also standard roles such as Valentin, Athanael, Onegin, and Sharpless. In all he sang an estimated 100 roles throughout his long career. Bourdin was also active in

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 ...

, and as a recitalist. He was the dedicatee of the 'Chanson à boire' (the third song of Ravel's ''

Don Quichotte à Dulcinée ''Don Quichotte à Dulcinée'' is a song cycle by Maurice Ravel based on the story of ''Don Quixote''. It was first composed for voice and piano but later orchestrated. The songs are traditionally performed by a baritone or bass(-baritone). The ...

''), and of 'C'est le joli printemps', one of Poulenc's ''Chansons villageoises FP 117'', of which he gave the premiere on 28 June 1943 in the

Salle Gaveau The Salle Gaveau, named after the French piano maker Gaveau, is a classical concert hall in Paris, located at 45-47 rue La Boétie, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It is particularly intended for chamber music. Construction The plans for t ...

.Francis Poulenc. ''Journal de mes mélodies.'' Cicero editeurs, 1993, p93. After retiring from the stage in 1959, he became a teacher at the Paris Conservatory. He can be heard in two complete recordings, ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' and ''

Thais Thais can be the plural of ''Thai'' and refer to: * The Thai people, the main ethnic group of Thailand * The Thai peoples or Tai peoples, the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia In the singular, Thais may refer to: People Ancien ...

'', opposite his wife, the soprano

Géori Boué Georgette "Géori" Boué (16 October 1918 – 5 January 2017) was a French soprano, particularly associated with the French repertory, especially Marguérite, '' Thais'' and Salomé (Massenet). She was born in Toulouse. Following her career in ...

, as well as 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 ...

'', and Ravel's ''

L'heure espagnole ''L'heure espagnole'' is a French one-act opera from 1911, described as a ''comédie musicale'', with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on Franc-Nohain's 1904 play ('comédie-bouffe') of the same name The opera, s ...

''. He also appeared in the film of Messager's operetta ''

Coups de roulis ''Coups de roulis'' is an opérette in three acts with music by André Messager and a French libretto by Albert Willemetz, based on the 1925 novel by Maurice Larrouy. It was Messager's last work, written during remissions of illness, and although ...

'', and '' Le Barbier de Séville'' as Don Bazile.

Selected filmography

* ''

Tossing Ship ''Tossing Ship'' (French: ''Coups de roulis'') is a 1932 French musical comedy film directed by Jean de La Cour and starring Max Dearly, Edith Manet and Pierre Magnier.Crisp p.391 It is an operetta film based on the stage work '' Coups de roul ...

'' (Coups de roulis) (1932) - Kermao * '' Miss Helyett'' (1933) - Landrin * ''

Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...

'' (1936) - Lionel * ''

Serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...

'' (1940) -

Johann Michael Vogl Johann Michael Vogl (August 10, 1768 – November 19, Michael Lorenz: ''Studien zum Schubertkreis'', Phil. Diss. Vienna, 2001 1840), was an Austrian baritone singer and composer. Though famous in his day, he is remembered mainly for his close ...

Sources

Alain Pâris Alain Pâris (born 22 November 1947) is a French conductor and musicologist. Biography Born in Paris, Alain Pâris was trained as a pianist and has a law degree. He studied conducting with Pierre Dervaux, Paul Paray and Georg Solti and won the ...

, ''Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle'' (2 vols), Editions Robert Laffont (Bouquins, Paris 1982, 4th Edn. 1995, 5th Edn 2004). * Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), ''Guide de l’opéra'', Les indispensables de la musique (

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

, 1995).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourdin, Roger 1900 births 1973 deaths musicians from Paris 20th-century French male opera singers French operatic baritones People from Levallois-Perret Conservatoire de Paris alumni Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris