Camille Maurane (November 29, 1911 – January 21, 2010), born Camille Moreau, was a French baryton-martin singer. His father was a music teacher and he started singing as a child in the Maîtrise Saint-Evode in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
. The sudden death of his mother and family upheaval meant a break of twelve years in regular singing.
He studied at the
Paris Conservatoire
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as 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 ...
in the class of
Claire Croiza
Claire Croiza (14 September 1882 – 27 May 1946) was a French mezzo-soprano and an influential teacher of singers.
Career
Claire Croiza (née Conelly, or O'Connolly) was born in Paris, the daughter of an expatriate American father and an Italia ...
from 1936 to 1939. He began his professional career as a singer in 1940 at the
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Paris 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 ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. After his debut as the Moine musicien in ''
Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame'' on 14 January 1940, he went to create the following roles at the Opéra-Comique:
*the captain (''Nèle Dooryn'', 1940)
*Doria (''Ginevra'', 1942)
*a man, a peasant (''Mon Oncle Benjamin'', 1942)
*a young man (''Le Oui des Jeunes Filles'', 1949).
*Un Soldat (''Dolorès'', 1952)
He also sang in ''
The Barber of Seville
''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...
'', ''
La Basoche
''La Basoche'' is an opéra comique in three acts, with music by André Messager and words by Albert Carré. The opera is set in Paris in 1514 and depicts the complications that arise when the elected "king" of the student guild, the Basoche, is ...
'', ''
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 Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
'', ''
Lakmé
''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille.
The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in P ...
'', ''
Louise
Louise or Luise may refer to:
* Louise (given name)
Arts Songs
* "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005
* "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984
* "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013
* "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929
*"Louise", by Clan of ...
'', ''Madame Bovary'', ''
Madame Butterfly
''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Pelléas et Mélisande'' and
oratorios
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...
like ''
La Chanson du mal-aimé
''La Chanson du mal-aimé'' (English: ''Song of the Poorly Loved'') is an oratorio composed by Léo Ferré in 1952–53 on Guillaume Apollinaire's eponymous poem. This piece for four soloist singers, choir and orchestra is an example of an oratorio ...
''. He was occasionally billed under the name Moreau.
[Wolff S. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900-1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953.]
His voice was typical of the baryton-martin range (between
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
and
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
). He is famous for his interpretation of
Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
's Pelléas, for which he took part in three complete recordings of
Pelléas et Mélisande. He is also regarded as one of the best interpreters of French mélodies, of which he left many recordings, since reissued on CD, and of
Fauré's ''Requiem''. His repertoire extended back to music of
Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera an ...
through to
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...
,
Léo Ferré
Léo Ferré (24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a French-born Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer, whose career in France dominated the years after the Second World War until his death. He released s ...
and other contemporaries.
A dedicated teacher, he taught at the Paris Conservatory until 1981.
References
External links
*
Camille Maurane, baryton français (Wikipedia France, with discography)
1911 births
2010 deaths
Musicians from Rouen
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
20th-century French male singers
French operatic baritones
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