Jacques-Joseph-André Bouhy (18 June 1848 – 29 January 1929) was a Belgian

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 ...

, most famous for being the first to sing the "

Toreador Song The Toreador Song is the popular name for the aria "" ("I toast you"), from the French opera ''Carmen'', composed by Georges Bizet to a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. It is sung by the bullfighter (French: '' toréador'') Escamil ...

" in the role of Escamillo in the opera ''

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 ...

''. Bouhy was born in

Pepinster Pepinster ( or ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Pepinster had a total population of 9,560. The total area is 24.79 km2 which gives a population density of 386 inhabitants per km2. ...

. After studying at the

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

Conservatory of Music, he made his début at the

Paris Opéra 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 k ...

as Méphistophélès (''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

'') in 1871. He performed 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 ...

as Figaro (''

Le Nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

''), Escamillo (''

'') in 1875. At the Comique he also created the role of ''

Don César de Bazan ''Don César de Bazan'' is an opéra comique in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery, Philippe-François Pinel "Dumanoir" and Jules Chantepie, based on the play by d'Ennery and Dumanoir, which was first perform ...

'' in 1872. In 1882 he appeared at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

singing in ''Faust'' and ''Carmen''. He spent time in the United States as the first director of the

National Conservatory of Music of America The National Conservatory of Music of America was an institution for higher education in music founded in 1885 in New York City by Jeannette Meyers Thurber. The conservatory was officially declared defunct by the state of New York in 1952, altho ...

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 ...

before returning to Paris to sing the High Priest in ''

Samson et Dalila ''Samson and Delilah'' (french: Samson et Dalila, links=no), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater (n ...

'' (1890). He was extremely popular with audiences, and counted

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther'' ...

among his admirers. Singers taught by him or who received instruction from him include

Gervase Elwes Gervase Henry Cary-Elwes, DL (15 November 1866 – 12 January 1921), better known as Gervase Elwes, was an English tenor of great distinction, who exercised a powerful influence over the development of English music from the early 1900s up un ...

Clara Butt Dame Clara Ellen Butt, (1 February 1872 – 23 January 1936) was an English contralto and one of the most popular singers from the 1890s through to the 1920s. She had an exceptionally fine contralto voice and an agile singing technique, and imp ...

Louise Kirkby Lunn Louise Kirkby Lunn (8 November 1873 – 17 February 1930) was an English contralto (sometimes classified as a mezzo-soprano). Born into a working-class family in Manchester, She appeared in many French and Italian operas, but was best known as ...

, Suzanne Adams, Bessie Abott,

Leon Rains Eleazer Leon Rains, also ''Léon Rains'', (October 1, 1870 – June 11, 1954) was an American operatic bass, film actor and voice teacher. After studies in New York City and Paris, he toured in the U.S. for two years with Frank Damrosch's opera ...

Eva Gauthier Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

Olive Rae The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

Florence Turner-Maley Florence Turner-Maley (August 23, 1871 – January 3, 1962) was an American composer, singer, and teacher. Florence Turner was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, to William Hayward and Mathilde (Holwill) Turner. Her father had been a boy soprano. S ...

Lillian Blauvelt Lillian Blauvelt (1873–1947) was a popular opera singer in New York City and internationally in the first decade of the 20th century. Her voice was a lyric soprano with a very pure timbre and dramatic distinction. Her vocal range was from G to ...

and

Louise Homer Louise Beatty Homer (April 30, 1871May 6, 1947) was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer ...

, as well as Nellie A. Hope and Xhosa/Scottish contralto Jessie M.Soga. He died in Paris in January 1929 aged 80.

References

Sources

* 1848 births 1929 deaths People from Pepinster 19th-century Belgian male opera singers Operatic baritones 20th-century Belgian male opera singers {{Belgium-opera-singer-stub