Jean Delvoye (25 November 1854, in Liège – 13 June 1938, in

Ougrée Ougrée ( wa, Ougrêye) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Seraing, located in the province of Liège, Belgium. It was a separate municipality before the merging of municipalities in 1977. Olympic swimmers Béatrice ...

) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

baritone, who, after working in the French provinces, enjoyed a long career in Paris, centred on the Opéra-Comique, and left some recordings representative of his repertoire.

Life and career

Delvoye studied singing at the Conservatoire de Liège under Georges Bonheur, obtaining a 2nd prize after only five months. He also won two first prizes in the "déclamation lyrique" class of baritone Sébastien Carman. Around 1881 he appeared in several performances of opéras comiques at the Salle de Fontainebleau in his home city. He sang in Dunkerque during the 1886-1887 season, before moving on to

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

(1887-1888) then Nantes for two seasons, singing Zurga in '' Les pêcheurs de perles'', and appearing as well in ''

Les dragons de Villars ''Les dragons de Villars'' (''The Dragoons of Villars'') is an opéra-comique in three acts by Aimé Maillart to a libretto by Lockroy and Eugène Cormon. The story of the opera was said to have been borrowed from ''La Petite Fadette'' by George ...

'', '' La Béarnaise'', ''

Si j'étais roi ''Si j'étais roi'' (English: ''If I Were King'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Adolphe Adam. The libretto was written by Adolphe d'Ennery and Jules-Henri Brésil. It was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Hist ...

'' and ''

Le Roi d'Ys ' (''The King of Ys'') is an opera in three acts and five tableaux by the French composer Édouard Lalo, to a libretto by Édouard Blau, based on the old Breton legend of the drowned city of Ys. That city was, according to the legend, the capi ...

''. He spent 1890 to 1893 in Marseille, where he also took lessons from Ismaël as well as appearing in local premieres of ''Le Rêve'' et ''La Basoche''. Later he sang in Nice then in Lyon, where he was praised for his superb method, stunning virtuosity, and his Beckmesser was singled out for praise.''Le Passe-temps et le Parterre réunis'', Lyon, 31 October 1897.
Retrieved 28 August 2013. His Paris début was at the Théâtre du Château d'Eau on 27 October 1898 as Ourrias in ''

Mireille Mireille () is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name ''Mirèio'' (or ''Mirèlha'' in the classical norm of Occitan, ). It could be related to the Occitan verb ''mirar'' "to look, to admire" or to the given names ''Miriam'' ...

''. At the Salle Favart, created ''Céleste'' (the role of Mazurier), ''le Chemineau'' (Thomas), ''Circé'' (Politès), ''La Danseuse de Pompéi'' (Philippe), ''La Fille de Tabarin'' (Frère Eloi), ''Le Follet'' (Jeannic), ''Les Fugitifs'' (Méraudon), ''

L'Heure Espagnole ''L'heure espagnole'' is a French one-act opera from 1911, described as a ''comédie musicale'', with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on Franc-Nohain's 1904 play ('comédie-bouffe') of the same nameStoullig E. '' ...

'' (Inigo), ''Télémaque'' (Ménélas), '' Mârouf'' (Vizir), ''La Marseillaise'' (Moreau), ''Myrtil'' (Probulos), ''La Petite Maison'' (Dominique), ''

La Reine Fiammette ''La reine Fiammette'' is an opera in four acts by composer Xavier Leroux. The opera uses a French language libretto by Catulle Mendès which is based on Mendès's 1898 work of the same name, a ''conte dramatique'' in six acts set in Renaissance It ...

'' (Lucagnolo), ''La Revanche d'Iris'' (Diogène), ''Sanga'' (Gauchut), ''Le Secret de Maître Cornille'' (Cornille), ''Solange'' (le Maire de Saint-Dié), ''Titania'' (Mathieu), ''Les Visitandines'' (Frontin), ''Feminissima'' (le Précepteur) and sang in major revivals and local premieres of '' Hansel et Gretel'' (le Père), '' Macbeth'' (le Portier) and ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language drama ...

'' (le Sacristain),Wolff S. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900–1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. He also appeared in ''

le Barbier de Séville ''The Barber of Seville or the Useless Precaution'' (french: Le Barbier de Séville ou la Précaution inutile) is a French play by Pierre Beaumarchais, with original music by Antoine-Laurent Baudron. It was initially conceived as an opéra comi ...

'' (Figaro, Bartholo), '' La Basoche'' (Duc de Longueville), ''Carmen'' (Escamillo), ''

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 ...

'' (Alfio), '' Le Déserteur'' (Montauciel), ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, ''El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...

'' (Mazetto), ''Don Pasquale'' (Malatesta), ''Les Dragons de Villars'' (Bellamy), ''Le Farfadet'' (Marcelin), ''

L'Irato ''L'irato, ou L'emporté'' (''The Angry Man'') is an ''opéra-comique'' (styled an ''opéra parade'') in one act by the French composer Étienne Méhul with a French-language libretto by Benoît-Joseph Marsollier. It was first performed at the Th� ...

'' (Scapin), ''Falstaff'' (Ford), '' Fortunio'' (Maître André), '' Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame'' (Boniface), ''Lakmé'' (Frédéric), ''Louise'' (Chansonnier), ''Madame Butterfly'' (Sharpless), ''Le Maître de Chapelle'' (Barnabé), ''Maître Wolfram'' (Wolfram), ''Manon'' (Brétigny, Lescaut), ''Les Noces de Jeannette'' (Jean), ''L'Ouragan'' (Gervais), ''Le Roi d'Ys'' (Karnac), ''Sapho'' (Césaire), ''La Traviata'' (d'Orbel), and ''La Bohème'' (Marcel). Antoine Delvoye published an article (in French) entitled 'Un grand artiste wallon : le baryton Jean Delvoye (1854-1938) in ''La Vie Wallonne'', Tome 53 (1979), p. 175-219.

Recordings

He made a significant number of recordings of individual songs and arias, as well as some duets with other leading singers. They cover various national schools: French or Paris-based composers Adam, Carafa, Flotow, Gounod, Grétry, Grisart, Isouard, Maillart, Massé, Massenet, Messager, Meyerbeer, Planquette, Reyer, Saint-Saëns and Thomas; the Belgian Gevaert; Italians Donizetti, Paër and Rossini; and Germans Mozart and Humperdinck.Discographical data from The CHARM Discography, Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music, , accessed 8 October 2013. Two of these were reissued on CD as part of the Becko set of historical Belgian singers.La collection Yves Becko 2006
accessed 28 December 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delvoye, Jean 1861 births 1938 deaths Musicians from Liège Belgian opera singers