Nicolas-Marie Simon (1852 in

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

, France – 1923), known as Simon-Max, 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 ...

who was mainly active 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 ...

in the field of opera-bouffe. After musical studies in Reims he made his debut in 1875 at the

Théâtre de la Renaissance The name Théâtre de la Renaissance () has been used successively for three distinct Parisian theatre companies. The first two companies, which were short-lived enterprises in the 19th century, used the Salle Ventadour, now an office building ...

as Janio in ''La reine Indigo'' then on 9 September that year at the

Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques () was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted ...

as Anatole de Quillembois in '' Les cent vierges'' by Lecocq.Martin J. ''Nos artistes des théâtres et concerts.'' Paul Ollendorff, Paris, 1895. At the Folies-Dramatiques he went on to sing in the premieres of '' Les cloches de Corneville'' on 17 April 1877 (Jean Grenicheux), ''

La fille du tambour-major ''La fille du tambour-major'' (, ''The Drum Major's Daughter'') is an opéra comique in three acts, with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot. It was one of the composer's last works, premiered less than a year bef ...

'' on 13 December 1879 and ''

Madame Favart ''Madame Favart'' () is an opéra comique, or operetta, in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot. Performance history After defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870) ended Napoleon III' ...

'' on 28 December 1878 (Hector de Boispréau). Simon-Max-Fille-du-tambour-major

Other premieres included Cottinet in ''Le petit Parisien'' (16 January 1882), Inigo in ''La princesse des Canaries'' (9 February 1883), Ischabod in the French premiere of ''Rip'' (11 November 1884), Planchet in ''Les petits mousquetaires'' (5 March 1885), Michel in ''Fanfan la tulipe'', (21 October 1882), Joseph Abrial in ''

La fauvette du temple LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'' (17 November 1885), and singing in revivals of ''

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 ...

'' (Pomponnet) among others. He created Zizi in ''

Ali-Baba ''Ali-Baba'' is an opéra comique in three acts, first produced in 1887, with music by Charles Lecocq. The French libretto based on the familiar tale from the Arabian Nights was by Albert Vanloo and William Busnach. After some initial success th ...

'' in Brussels alongside his wife in 1887. Simon-Max then worked at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

, at the Gaité (Mignapour in ''Le grand Mogol'' in 1889, creating Pinsonnet in ''Le voyage de Suzette'' on 20 January 1890, Pierrot in ''Le petit poucet'' in 1891), at the

Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens () is a Parisian theatre founded in 1855 by the composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers ...

(Don Géranios in ''Madame la Présidente'', 1902, Plum-Quick in ''Florodora'', 1903, and a 1908 revival of ''La petite boheme'' as Barbemuche). Further appearances included the Théâtre de la Renaissance (Smithson in '' Miss Helyett'', 1900, Fritzchen in '' Lischen et Fritzchen'', 1900); and at the Théâtre Dejazet (Martelin in ''Radinol a du coton'', 1901). While the proprietor of the casino in

Villerville Villerville () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The ''commune'' is located towards the eastern end of the coastline called the Côte Fleurie (Flowery Coast). In entertainment In the summ ...

, a whale was beached which Simon-Max bought, selling the oil and flesh before conserving the skin and converting the body to a theatre large enough to take 100 in the audience. The bizarre character of the Théâtre Baleine helped the success of a show entitled « Jonas Revue ». The whale theatre was moved to Paris, but burnt down the following winter. He was the founding director of the Prévoyance théâtrale. During the run of ''Les cloches de Corneville'' he met and married the young soprano lead

Juliette Simon-Girard Juliette-Joséphine Simon-Girard (; 8 May 1859 – 1954) was a French soprano, principally in operetta.Gänzl K. Juliette Simon-Girard. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Her father, , was an actor at th ...

.Gänzl K. Juliette Simon-Girard. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon-Max 1852 births 1923 deaths Musicians from Reims French operatic tenors 19th-century French male singers