Eugène Espérance Oudin (24 February 1858 – 4 November 1894) was an American
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 ...
,
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 by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and
translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
of the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
.
Life and career
Early years
Oudin was one of six brothers born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to
French parents, Lucien and Sophie Agnus Oudin. He sang as a
boy soprano
A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North Americ ...
in the choir of Dr. Tyng's church in New York City and studied music under Moderati. Oudin showed talent and was eventually entrusted with the
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 ...
solos at St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church. He studied
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
and was admitted to the Bar in 1879, joining the offices of the legal firm Evart, Southmayd and Choate.
In 1881 he set up in legal practice for himself and continued this work for three years, until he accepted an offer to join the
American Opera Company The American Opera Company was the name of four different opera companies active in the United States. The first company was a short-lived opera company founded in New York City in February, 1886 that lasted only one season. The second company grew ...
, singing for them several times in the western United States.
Travelling to
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
in May 1886, Oudin met fellow New Yorker
Lady Randolph Churchill
Jennie Spencer-Churchill (; 9 January 1854 – 29 June 1921), known as Lady Randolph Churchill, was an American-born British socialite, the wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, and the mother of British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill.
Early ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, who set him up as a salon singer, during which period he appeared before
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
aristocracy
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At t ...
, including
The Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...
.
Opera and concert years
Oudin made his operatic stage debut in New York as Montosol in ''Josephine Sold by Her Sisters'' at
Wallack's Theatre
Three New York City playhouses named Wallack's Theatre played an important part in the history of American theater, as the successive homes of the stock company managed by actors James W. Wallack and his son, Lester Wallack. During its 35-ye ...
in August 1886 under the direction of John A. McCaull who brought Oudin over from
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
to appear with his
McCaull Comic Opera Company
The McCaull Comic Opera Company, also called the McCaull Opera Comique Company, was an American theatral production company founded by Colonel John A. McCaull in 1880. The company produced operetta, comic opera and musical theatre in New York Cit ...
. During this production he met his future wife, the
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
Louise Parker, who was his leading lady in the operetta.
In 1887, he starred as Count Erminio in ''
Gasparone
''Gasparone'' is an operetta in three acts by Carl Millöcker to a German libretto by Friedrich Zell and Richard Genée. The libretto was later revised by and . An amusing feature of the work is that the title character never appears and acts ...
'' by
Karl Millöcker Karl may refer to:
People
* Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne
* Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer
* Karl of Austria, last Austri ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
at the Standard Theatre, together with
Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell (born Helen Louise Leonard; December 4, 1860 or 1861 – June 6, 1922), was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for her beauty ...
and
J. H. Ryley
John Handford Ryley (11 September 1841Kurt Gänzl, Gänzl, Kurt"J H Ryley: setting at least some of the record straight ..."
Kurt of Gerolstein, 13 May 2018 – 28 July 1922) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in th ...
. The ''New York Times'' wrote that his singing was an "especial feature" of the piece, and that "This artist has lost much of the self-consciousness that marked his early efforts, and his acting is now quite animated."
Franz von Suppé's opera ''Die Jagd nach dem Glück'' was a failure in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
but was popular abroad and ran at Palmer's Theatre in New York as ''Clover'' from 8 May 1889 with Oudin and
DeWolf Hopper
William DeWolf Hopper (March 30, 1858September 23, 1935) was an American actor, singer, comedian, and theatrical producer. A star of vaudeville and musical theater, he became best known for performing the popular baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" ...
in the cast. He also appeared in ''
Dorothy
Dorothy may refer to:
*Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name.
Arts and entertainment
Characters
*Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum
* Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...
'' in New York with
Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell (born Helen Louise Leonard; December 4, 1860 or 1861 – June 6, 1922), was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for her beauty ...
.
Later in 1889, Oudin was again singing in concerts in London, and in 1891 he sang the part of the Templar Brian de Bois Guilbert in
Sir Arthur Sullivan's grand opera, ''
Ivanhoe
''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...
'', at the
Royal English Opera House
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. Its red- brick facade dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus behind a small plaza near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road. The Pal ...
. The Times had reported the year before that "the music for
hepart
asbeing specially composed for
udin.
Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte (; 3 May 1844 – 3 April 1901) was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a hotel empire, while also establi ...
intended to follow ''Ivanhoe'' with a production of
Richard Wagner's ''
The Flying Dutchman
The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dut ...
'', with Oudin in the title role.
Sir Henry Wood, then répétiteur at the Royal English Opera House, later recalled in his memoirs, "I was already preparing ''The Flying Dutchman'' with Eugène Oudin in the name part. He would have been superb. However, plans were altered and the ''Dutchman'' was shelved." On 17 October 1892, Oudin was the first to sing in English the title role in
Tschaikovsky's ''
Eugene Onegin
''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is ...
'' at the
Olympic Theatre
The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout m ...
in London, conducted by Wood. Tschaikovsky was attached to Oudin both as an artist and a man and persuaded him to take part in Symphony Concerts in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
during 1893.
Returning to England in January 1894, Oudin took part in concert performances of ''
Cavalleria Rusticana
''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name and subsequent play ...
'' and ''
Pagliacci
''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who m ...
'' on 20 January 1894 at the
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...
in London. Later that year he made a great success in
Schumann's oratorio
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 ...
, ''
Scenes from Goethe's Faust''. From 2 to 5 October 1894, Oudin took part in the
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
Triennial Musical Festival. After taking part in a performance of
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on 20 October 1894 at The Queen's Hall in London, Oudin was so caught up by the audience's enthusiasm that, while visiting the
conductor Hans Richter in the artist's room, he was struck down by a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
, from which he died two weeks later at age 36.
Translator and songwriter
During the last few years of his life, Oudin also translated the lyrics of
French songs and arias into
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and also wrote the words and music of several songs. Oudin died at his London home in 1894 aged 36. He was buried in
Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...
, and
Sir Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
was present at the funeral, having sent flowers "in the shape of a large Templar cross",
[The Times, Friday, November 9, 1894, Court Circular, p.6] recalling Oudin's greatest role in a work of Sullivan's. A benefit concert was held for his widow and children in London in 1895, which raised £1,000.
References
External links
Obituary of Oudin in the New York TimesOudin on Grande Musica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oudin, Eugene
1858 births
1894 deaths
American opera singers
People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan
Singers from New York City
Burials at Brompton Cemetery
19th-century American singers
Classical musicians from New York (state)