Antoine Trial (13 October 1737,

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

– 5 February 1795, Paris) was a French singer and actor. He was the younger brother of the musician Jean-Claude Trial (1732–1771) and husband of soprano Marie-Jeanne Milon, stage name Félicité Mandeville (1746–1818). After an education at the cathedral in Avignon, he followed his older brother to Paris in 1764 and joined the troupe of the Prince of Conti. On 4 July the same year, he made his debut at the

Comédie-Italienne Comédie-Italienne or Théâtre-Italien are French names which have been used to refer to Italian-language theatre and opera when performed in France. The earliest recorded visits by Italian players were commedia dell'arte companies employed b ...

as Bastien in ''Le Sorcier'' by

Philidor Philidor (''Filidor'') or Danican Philidor was a family of musicians that served as court musicians to the French kings. The original name of the family was Danican (D'Anican) and was of Scottish origin (Duncan). Philidor was a later addition to t ...

. On 12 December he sang the second tenor (a comic role) at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

in the court revival of Mondonville's ''

Daphnis et Alcimadure (in Occitan classical norm, ''Dafnís e Alcimadura'', or according to the original libretto spelling, ''Daphnis e Alcimaduro'') is an opera by the Baroque violinist, conductor and composer Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville to a libretto in ...

'', alongside the former stars of the

Académie Royale de Musique 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 ...

Marie Fel Marie Fel (24 October 1713 – 2 February 1794) was a French opera singer and a daughter of the organist Henri Fel. Marie Fel was born at Bordeaux. She made her debut at the Paris Opera in 1733 and sang regularly at the Concert Spirituel. In a ...

and Pierre Jelyotte.Cf. 1764 court libretto, ''Daphnis et Alcimadure, Pastorale languedocienne, Représentée devant leurs Majestés à Versailles, le 12 Décembre 1764'', Paris, Ballard, 1764 (accessible for free online a
Gallica.bnf.fr
Although considered an excellent actor and musician, his

haute-contre The haute-contre (plural hautes-contre) was the primary French operatic tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera, from the middle of the seventeenth century until the latter part of the eighteenth century. History This voice ...

voice was thin and nasal, and he specialised in the roles of peasants and servants. His roles included Bertrand in '' Le déserteur'', Ali in ''

Zémire et Azor ' (''Zémire and Azor'') is an opéra comique, described as a ''comédie-ballet mêlée de chants et de danses'', in four acts by the Belgian composer André Grétry. The French text was by Jean-François Marmontel based on ''La Belle et la bête'' ...

'' and André in '' L’épreuve villageoise''. ''Trial'' became a French term for a tenor with a thin, nasal voice, examples being in the operas of

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

and in ''

The Tales of 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 ...

''. He sided with

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

in 1793 and became active in the Terror. After the fall of Robespierre he was forced to abandon the theatre and poisoned himself.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Cotte RJV. Trial, French family of musicians. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. 1737 births 1795 deaths French operatic tenors French male stage actors Musicians from Avignon Suicides by poison 18th-century French male actors 18th-century French male opera singers 18th-century suicides {{France-opera-singer-stub