Jean Giraudeau
Encyclopedia
Jean Giraudeau, born Toulon
, 1 July 1916, died 7 February 1995, was a French tenor, and later theatre director, particularly associated with the Opéra-Comique
in Paris, and described as having a “lyrical voice” as well as being “a superb character actor”.
. He took part in the premiere of Martine by Henri Rabaud
at the Opéra de Strasbourg before joining the main opera companies in Paris.
He made his debut at the Opéra-Comique
on 23 July 1947 as Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles
, going on to create roles in Il était un petit navire by Germaine Tailleferre
in 1951 (Valentin) and in Marion, ou la Belle au tricorne by Pierre Wissmer in 1951 (Fabrice).
He also sang in Madame Bovary by Emmanuel Bondeville
(Charles Bovary), Blaise le savetier
by Philidor
(Blaise), Ariane à Naxos
(Bacchus), Lakmé
(Gérald), Le Barbier de Séville
(Almaviva), Così fan tutte
(Ferrando), Les Indes galantes
(Valère), Manon
(Des Grieux), Madama Butterfly
(Pinkerton) Les Mamelles de Tirésias
(le Mari) and L'Heure espagnole
(Gonzalve).
At the Paris Opera he played Tamino in La Flûte enchantée, David in Die Meistersinger, Alfredo in La Traviata
, created Nicador in Bolivar and sang the Chevalier de la Force in the French premiere of Dialogues des carmélites
.
He was director of the Opéra-Comique
from 1968 to 1972, and left a varied list of recordings.
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, 1 July 1916, died 7 February 1995, was a French tenor, and later theatre director, particularly associated with the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
in Paris, and described as having a “lyrical voice” as well as being “a superb character actor”.
Life and career
After obtaining a degree in law, Giraudeau studied music, winning prizes in song, opera and cello in 1941. His stage debut was at the Opéra de Montpellier in 1942 (Wilhelm Meister) in MignonMignon
Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
. He took part in the premiere of Martine by Henri Rabaud
Henri Rabaud
Henri Rabaud was a French conductor and composer, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of the twentieth century....
at the Opéra de Strasbourg before joining the main opera companies in Paris.
He made his debut at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
on 23 July 1947 as Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles
Les pêcheurs de perles
Les pêcheurs de perles is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was first performed on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run...
, going on to create roles in Il était un petit navire by Germaine Tailleferre
Germaine Tailleferre
Germaine Tailleferre was a French composer and the only female member of the famous composers' group Les Six.-Biography:...
in 1951 (Valentin) and in Marion, ou la Belle au tricorne by Pierre Wissmer in 1951 (Fabrice).
He also sang in Madame Bovary by Emmanuel Bondeville
Emmanuel Bondeville
Emmanuel Bondeville was a French composer and music administrator, born 29 October 1898 in Rouen, and died 26 November 1987 in Paris.- Biography :...
(Charles Bovary), Blaise le savetier
Blaise le savetier
Blaise le savetier is a 1759 one-act opéra comique, by the French composer François-André Danican Philidor. The libretto was by Michel-Jean Sedaine, after a story by Jean de La Fontaine entitled Conte d'une chose arrivée à Château-Thierry.-Performance history:The first complete opéra comique by...
by Philidor
François-André Danican Philidor
François-André Danican Philidor , often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess player. He contributed to the early development of the opéra comique...
(Blaise), Ariane à Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
(Bacchus), Lakmé
Lakmé
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
(Gérald), Le Barbier de Séville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
(Almaviva), Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
(Ferrando), Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes is an opéra-ballet consisting of a prologue and four entrées by Jean-Philippe Rameau with libretto by Louis Fuzelier...
(Valère), Manon
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...
(Des Grieux), Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
(Pinkerton) Les Mamelles de Tirésias
Les mamelles de Tirésias
Les mamelles de Tirésias is a surrealist two-act opéra bouffe by Francis Poulenc, based on the play of the same title by Guillaume Apollinaire, which was written in 1903 but first performed in 1917...
(le Mari) and L'Heure espagnole
L'heure espagnole
L'heure espagnole is a one-act opera, described as a comédie musicale, with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on his play of the same name first performed at the Théâtre de l'Odéon on 28 October 1904...
(Gonzalve).
At the Paris Opera he played Tamino in La Flûte enchantée, David in Die Meistersinger, Alfredo in La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
, created Nicador in Bolivar and sang the Chevalier de la Force in the French premiere of Dialogues des carmélites
Dialogues of the Carmelites
Dialogues of the Carmelites , is an opera in three acts by Francis Poulenc. In 1953, M. Valcarenghi approached Poulenc to commission a ballet for La Scala in Milan; when Poulenc found the proposed subject uninspiring, Valcarenghi suggested instead a screenplay by Georges Bernanos, based on the...
.
He was director of the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
from 1968 to 1972, and left a varied list of recordings.
Discography
- Beethoven: Songs - Decca
- Berlioz: L'Enfance du Christ, op. 25 (solos) - Pathé
- Berlioz: Requiem (soloist) - Westminster XWN 2227
- Berlioz: Les Troyens (Enée) - BBC-SOMM-BEECHAM 26-8
- Bernier: Confitebor tibi Domine - Pathé DTX 158
- Bondeville: L'École des maris (soloist) - Decca
- Campra: Psaume LIII "Deus in nomine tuo" - Pathé DTX 270
- Charpentier: Lamentations pour les obsèques de la Reine Marie-Thérèse, H. 331 - Pathé DTX 270
- Charpentier: De Profundis (Tome XX des "Meslanges"), H. 189 - Pathé DTX 158
- Charpentier: Le Reniement de Saint Pierre, motet, H. 424, - Pathé DTX 259
- Charpentier: Miserere des Jésuites (Psaume L), H. 193 - Pathé DTX 228
- Escher: Univers de Rimbaud (solo) - Olympia OCD 506
- Gervais: Exaudiat Te (Psaume XIX) - Pathé DTX 228
- Gervais: Te Deum - Pathé DTX 259
- Hervé: Le Retour d'Ulysse (Ulysse) - Gaieté Lyrique 20221-2
- Hervé: Trombolino (Cantarini) - Gaieté Lyrique 20221-2
- Jolivet: Suite liturgique (solo) - Véga
- Lehár: Paganini (title role) - Accord 4728682
- Massenet: Thaïs (Nicias) - Urania
- Milhaud: Le pauvre matelot (sailor) - Disques Véga
- Milhaud: Christophe Colomb (Majordomo) - TCE 8750
- Mozart: Kyrie in F major, KV33 (solo) - Pathé
- Offenbach: La belle Hélène (Ménélas) - Philips
- Offenbach: Geneviève de Brabant (Sifroy) - INA Memoire Vive 080
- Poulenc: Mamelles de Tirésias (Le mari) - Columbia
- Ravel: L'heure espagnole (Gonzalve for Cluytens, VSM in 1953; Torquemada for Maazel, DG in 1965)
- Rimsky-Korsakov: Snegurochka (Tsar Berendey) - Ponto
- Stravinsky: Renard (solo) - Adès
- Stravinsky: Le Rossignol (Fisherman) - Columbia
- Christmas at Notre-Dame (carols) - Concert Hall BM 2171