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François-Louis(-Ferdinand) Henry (12 May 1786 – 22 February 1855) was a French
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 ...
, who sang for about 35 years with 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, where he created numerous leading roles. His stage name was Henri (or Henry).
[Kutsch & Riemens 2003, pp. 2038–2039.] He has also been referred to as François-Louis Deshayes.
Birth and identity
He was born in
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 ...
with the family name of Deshayes. Relatively little is known about his life, and during his career at the Opéra-Comique he was only identified as Henry or Henri. However, it is as good as certain that he is identical with François-Louis Henry, who attended, and later taught at, the
Conservatoire de Paris
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 ...
.
[
]
Paris Conservatory
Henry first attended the conservatory as a supernumerary, beginning on 13 May 1803. He became a coach (''répétiteur'') without pay on 23 May 1808 and professor of singing preparation (''préparation au chant'') on 1 July, again without pay.[Pierre 1900]
p. 446
in ''Personnel administratif et enseignant'' (Administrative and teaching personnel). He was a student of Charles Simon Catel
Charles-Simon Catel (10 June 1773 – 29 November 1830) was a French composer and educator born at L'Aigle, Orne.
Biography
Catel studied at the Royal School of Singing in Paris. He was the chief assistant to François-Joseph Gossec at the or ...
, a professor of harmony, and won a second prize in harmony in 1810.
On 1 April 1816 Henry was appointed to a paid position as professor of vocalization (''vocalisation'').[ Among his students were Julie Dorus () and ]Cornélie Falcon
Cornélie Falcon (28 January 1814 – 25 February 1897) was a French soprano who sang at the Opéra in Paris. Her greatest success was creating the role of Valentine in Meyerbeer's ''Les Huguenots''. She possessed "a full, resonant voice"Warrack ...
(), who both later became leading sopranos at the Paris Opera
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 ...
. He became a professor of singing (''chant'') for a two-year trial (prior to 9 June 1835) and received his permanent position as professor of singing on 1 January 1837. He retired on 15 November 1842.[
]
Opéra-Comique
The first record of Henry having sung at the Opéra-Comique is on 29 June 1813 in the premiere of Boieldieu's opera ''Le nouveau seigneur de village''. The singer's most noteworthy creations there included Gaveston in Boieldieu's ''La dame blanche
''La dame blanche'' (English: ''The White Lady'') is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer François-Adrien Boieldieu. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and is based on episodes from no fewer than five works of the Scott ...
'' (1825) and Sergeant Sulpice in Donizetti's ''La fille du régiment
' (''The Daughter of the Regiment'') is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti, set to a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard. It was first performed on 11 February 1840 by the Paris Opéra- ...
'' (1840). He also sang at the premiere of George Onslow George Onslow may refer to:
*George Onslow (British Army officer) (1731–1792), British politician and army officer
*George Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow (1731–1814), British peer and politician
*George Onslow (composer)
André George(s) Louis ...
's opera ''Le duc de Guise
' (full title ' (''The Duke of Guise, or The Council of Blois))'' is an opéra comique in three acts by George Onslow, to a libretto by François-Antoine-Eugène de Planard and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, based on a play from 1809 of the ...
''. He continued to appear regularly with the company until 1849.[
On 6 December 1846 Henry sang Brander in the premiere of Berlioz's '']La damnation de Faust
''La damnation de Faust'' (English: ''The Damnation of Faust''), Op. 24 is a work for four solo voices, full seven-part chorus, large children's chorus and orchestra by the French composer Hector Berlioz. He called it a "''légende dramatique'' ...
'', a concert performance at the Opéra-Comique conducted by the composer. He also sang the role under Berlioz on 15 March 1847 at the Mikhaylovsky Theatre
The Mikhailovsky Theatre (russian: Миха́йловский теа́тр) is one of Russia's oldest opera and ballet houses. It was founded in 1833 and is situated in a historical building on 1, Arts Square in Saint Petersburg. It is named a ...
in Saint Petersburg, 18 April 1847 at the Maly Theatre The Maly Theatre, or Mali Theatre, may refer to one of several different theatres:
* The Maly Theatre (Moscow), also known as The State Academic Maly Theatre of Russia, in Moscow (founded in 1756 and given its own building in 1824)
* The Maly Thea ...
in Moscow, and 10 June 1847 at the Neues Königliches Schauspielhaus in Berlin.[Casaglia 2005.]
After about 1845 Henry was also active as a stage director at the Opéra-Comique.[ His stagings included the premieres of Halévy's 3-act ''Les mosquetaires de la reine'' on 3 February 1846, Xavier Boisselot's 3-act '' Ne touchez pas à la reine!'' on 16 January 1847, Halévy's 3-act '']Le val d'Andorre
''Le val d'Andorre'' (The Valley of Andorra) is an opéra comique by Fromental Halévy with a libretto by Saint-Georges. Although today almost completely forgotten, it was one of Halévy's greatest successes, running for 165 performances and resto ...
'' on 11 November 1848, and Armand Limnander's 3-act ''Les Monténégrins'' on 31 March 1849.[Wild & Charlton 2005, pp. 336–337, 339, 436.]
Henry's farewell performance was in 1850 (after his official retirement), when he performed Fortunatus in Auber's ''L'ambassadrice
''L'ambassadrice'' is an opera or opéra comique in 3 acts by composer Daniel Auber. The work's French language libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. The opera's world premiere was staged by the Opéra-Co ...
''.[
He died in Paris.][
]
Roles created
Notes
Bibliography
*
* Kutsch, K. J.
Karl-Josef Kutsch, also known as K. J. Kutsch, (born 11 May 1924) is a German physician and co-author with Leo Riemens of the ''Großes Sängerlexikon'', the standard reference for opera singers.
Life and work
Born in Gangelt, Kutsch studied me ...
and Riemens, Leo
Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch musicologist and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about Maria Callas, and together with Karl-Josef Kutsch began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which ...
(2003). ''Großes Sängerlexikon
''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The first ...
'' (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur. .
* Pierre, Constant
Constant Pierre (24 August 1855 – 12 February 1918) was a French musicologist.Robert 2001
Early life and career as a bassoonist
Born Constant-Victor-Désiré Pierre in Passy, near Paris, he entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1878 and stud ...
, editor (1900). ''Le Conservatoire national de musique et de déclamation. Documents historiques et administratifs''. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale. 1031 pages
View
at Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
.
* Pitou, Spire (1990). ''The Paris Opéra: An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers. Growth and Grandeur, 1815–1914''. New York: Greenwood Press. .
* Warrack, John
John Hamilton Warrack (born 1928, in London) is an English music critic, writer on music, and oboist.
Warrack is the son of Scottish conductor and composer Guy Warrack. He was educated at Winchester College (1941-6) and then at the Royal College o ...
and West, Ewan (1992). ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. .
* Wild, Nicole
Nicole Wild (20 June 1929 – 29 December 2017) was a French musicologist, chief curator at the Paris Opera Library and Museum, and a specialist in the history and iconography of opera in France in the 19th century.
Early life and education
Bor ...
; Charlton, David (2005). ''Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762-1972''. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Francois Louis
1786 births
1855 deaths
French operatic baritones
People from Versailles
Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
19th-century French male opera singers