Jules Lefort (27 January 1822 – 7 September 1898), was a French lyrical singer 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 ...
who in a career that spanned three decades regularly sang in the salons of wealthy and aristocratic patrons and in fashionable concert rooms both in Paris and London and across Europe. During his early singing career he was a
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing 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 low extreme for tenors is wide ...
and a
baritone but by the time of his later career in 1871 his voice had lowered to
bass.
[ Gänzl, Kurt]
Jules Lefort: 'Delight of the Parisian salons'
Kurt of Gerolstein - Around the World in Twenty Years: Years One to Twelve, 26 May 2021
Early life
Jules François René Lefort was born in Paris in 1822, the son of Jean François Hubert Lefort, a merchant, and Elisabeth Adèle ''née'' Dezedde. The family originated from
Laboissière-en-Thelle, a
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in the
Oise
Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...
department in northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. During much of his career Lefort sang mainly in Parisian salons, occasionally venturing further afield to venues across Europe and to London and the British provinces.
Kurt Gänzl
Kurt-Friedrich Gänzl (born 15 February 1946) is a New Zealand writer, historian and former casting director and singer best known for his books about musical theatre.
After a decade-long playwriting, acting and singing career, and a second ca ...
, the writer on
musical theatre, has described him as, "a very clever artist, able to interpret the romances and songs of his age with delicacy and point, with intelligence and expression, in a manner which was highly effective... time and again, he was hailed as the outstanding male singer of romances and ballads in Paris and in London."
[ There is some uncertainty about his vocal range at this stage in his career; his first press notice, in a short article about 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 ...
in January 1842 in the Parisian newspaper ''Les Coulisses'', described the 19 year-old Lefort as a new baritone "with a beautiful voice" who, with proper training, would be able to sing tenor. Gänzl believes he was a light baritone. In the next few years he was a regular on the concert platform. By 1846 the musical press was calling him the 'baryton en vogue’, and by November 1846 he was a leading player in the ‘opéra de salon’ - performing operas and musical comedies
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
privately in the homes of aristocrats and the rich.[
]
Musical career
He made his début at the Paris Opéra in 1848 singing the baritone role of Lord Enrico Ashton in ''Lucie de Lammermoor
''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel ''The Bride of Lammermoor''.
...
'', and sang don Fadrique in ''Jeanne la Folle'' there in the same year. After a number of public performances in Paris, Orléans and Rouen he made his first appearance in London in June 1850 in a concert at Willis’s Rooms. In July 1850 he appeared in a concert with the German pianist and composer Belleville d’Oury, following which the music critic of ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' wrote that Lefort was ‘a French barytone hohas produced an agreeable sensation in several concerts this season. He has a very agreeable voice, full-toned and flexible, and his singing, which is remarkably unaffected, has all the beauties with none of the ordinary defects of the French school’. Days later music publishers in London had printed and were selling various numbers ‘sung with so much success by M Lefort at Mme Oury’s concert’. After a brief return to Paris Lefort was back in London where, during October 1850, he appeared in a month long series of concerts under Michael William Balfe
Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially ''The Bohemian Girl''.
After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to co ...
, the musical director and principal conductor at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...
. In May 1853 Lefort returned to London for a series of concerts before recrossing the Channel to appear at venues across Europe. In September 1854 Lefort sang before Prince Albert at Boulogne. During this period he became known for singing ''En avant les zouaves!'', a song by Jules Verne to a score by Alfred Dufresne and published by Ledentu in 1855.[ On 27 June 1856 Lefort and his partner Pierre Levassor gave the first performance in London of Offenbach's '' Les deux aveugles'' in a concert version at the ]Hanover Square Rooms
The Hanover Square Rooms or the Queen's Concert Rooms were assembly rooms established, principally for musical performances, on the corner of Hanover Square, London, by Sir John Gallini in partnership with Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedric ...
. In the same year he sang in ''Tout est bien qui finit bien'' before the Emperor Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
and the Empress Eugénie
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
at the Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, f ...
; while shortly after he sang before Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
.[
]
Lefort created roles in several salon operas, including Felix in Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin
Théodore Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin or Wekerlin (9 November 1821 – 20 May 1910) was a French composer and music publisher from Alsace.
Biography
Weckerlin was born at Guebwiller. In 1844, he began studying singing with Antoine Ponchard and comp ...
's ''Tout est bien qui finit bien'' (1856); in Pauline Thys's ''l’Héritier sans le savoir'' (1858), and in Jules Beer's comic opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...
''En état de siège'' (1859). In November 1858 Lefort introduced what was to become one of his most famous songs in the scena ‘Le Paradis perdu’, to music by Théodore Ritter and lyrics by Baron Darou de Coubaltes.[ When Hector Berlioz first performed fragments from his work-in-progress '' Les Troyens'' at the Parisian Beethoven Society he chose Lefort and Anne Charton-Demeur to sing in the demonstration. In August 1859, when Berlioz gave the first public performance of pieces from ''Les Troyens'' at a concert, Jules Lefort sang the role of Chorèbe to the of Pauline Viardot Garcia, and with her performed the ]Dido
Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC.
In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...
n and Énée duet ‘O nuit d’ivresse'.[ In a concert in 1860 he sang ' Song to the Evening Star' from '']Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...
'' by Richard Wagner,[Collectif, ''La Controverse Wagner'', 2013]
Lire
while at the Théâtre Lyrique
The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien). The company was founded in 1847 as the Opér ...
in 1861 he played the title role in Henry Boisseaux and Théodore Lajarte
Théodore Lajarte (10 July 1826 – 20 June 1890) was a French musicologist, librarian, and composer.Huebner 1992.
Early years
Lajarte was born in Bordeaux. His full name has been given as Théodore Édouard Dufaure de Lajarte. He studied at t ...
's ''Le Neveu de Gulliver'' but the piece was not a success and Lefort turned his back on dramatic works for the rest of his career, returning to salon singing.[Pierre Larousse, ''Grand Dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle'', 1er supplément, 1878] He was Claudio in the premiere in the Theater Baden-Baden
Theater Baden-Baden at Goetheplatz(Götheplatz in German) is the city theater of Baden-Baden in the Black Forest inBaden-Württemberg, Germany.
At the instigation of Edouard Bénazet, a former casino director, the theater was modeled on the P ...
of ''Béatrice et Bénédict
''Béatrice et Bénédict'' (''Beatrice and Benedick'') is an '' opéra comique'' in two acts by French composer Hector Berlioz. Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based in general outline on a subplot in Shakespeare's ''Much Ado About N ...
'' (1862) by Hector Berlioz, under the direction of the composer. In 1862 he sang the title role of the King of Cocagne in Pauline Thys's ''le Pays de Cocagne''.[Biography of Jules Lefort]
Encyclopedia of French Lyrical Art from 1671 to 1971 He appeared in Jules d'Aoust's one-act comic opera ''Une partie de dominos'' (1863). In 1866 Lefort was singing in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, in Spain and toured Europe in a concert party alongside the operatic soprano Carlotta Patti, the Belgian composer and violinist Henri Vieuxtemps
Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps ( 17 February 18206 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th ce ...
, the Dutch composer and cellist Alexandre Batta and the pianist Eugène Ketterer.[
In June 1867 Lefort was back in London where he sang at a state concert before ]Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
at Buckingham Palace. At the same concert Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
gave his ‘Chanson de printemps’, and Lefort sang the duet 'Je suis alsacienne, je suis alsacien' from Offenbach’s ''Lischen et Fritzchen
''Lischen et Fritzchen'' is a one-act operetta (« conversation alsacienne » - Alsatian conversation) with music by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by ‘P Dubois’ (Paul Boisselot), first performed in 1863.
Performance history
The p ...
'' with Amélie Deméric-Lablache, joining in the quintet from ''Cosi fan tutte
Cosi, COSI or CoSi may refer to:
* '' Così'', a 1992 play by Louis Nowra
** ''Cosi'' (film), 1996, based on the play
* Così (restaurant), an American fast-casual restaurant chain
* Compton Spectrometer and Imager, or COSI, a NASA telescope to ...
''. A further tour commenced in 1868 with the soprano Carlotta Patti, the violinist Henri Vieuxtemps
Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps ( 17 February 18206 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th ce ...
, the French actor and singer Jean-François Berthelier and the Belgian harpist Félix Godefroid
Dieudonné-Félix Godefroid (24 July 1818 - 12 July 1897) was a Belgian harpist, who composed for his instrument and for the piano.
Félix Godefroid was born at Namur, where his father failed in a theatre venture and moved the family to Boulogn ...
. In March 1871 in London Lefort made his first appearance with the Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...
, while later that year he made an extensive concert tour with Helen Lemmens-Sherrington
Helen Lemmens-Sherrington (4 October 1834 – 9 May 1906) was an English concert and operatic soprano prominent from the 1850s to the 1880s. Born in northern England, she spent much of her childhood and later life in Belgium, where she studied at ...
and her husband, Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens and Sherrington’s sister, the soprano Jose Sherrington, together with the tenor Nelson Varley and the violinist Alexandre Cornelis. Following the success of the tour the Lemmenses and Lefort appeared together for several further seasons with their repertoire including a performance of Rossini's '' Stabat Mater'' in which Lefort sang the bass part. In London in June 1872 before the Emperor Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
and the Empress Eugénie
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
he sang opposite Marie Dumas in her ''Une soirée perdue'' to a score by Pauline Viardot
Pauline Viardot (; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue and composer of Spanish descent.
Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García, her name appears in various forms. When it is not simply "Pauli ...
.[
After a few final performances in London and Paris in about 1875 he became a singing teacher in Paris, and was the author of ''De l'émission de la voix'' (1868), ''Méthode de Chant'' (1874) and ''Grammaire de la parole'' (1891).
Jules Lefort died in Paris aged 76.
]
Personal life
Jules Lefort married three times: firstly, in 1848 to Charlotte Jeanne Judlin (1820 – 1883); they divorced in December 1872. Their son Pierre Louis Adrien Lefort (1856 – 1925), who, under the nom de plume Robert Charvay
Robert Charvay, (5 March 1858 – 1925) is the pen name of Adrien Lefort, a French dramatist and journalist who
worked for the daily '' Écho de Paris'', where he signed his papers with the nickname "The Yellow Dwarf".
He was the son of Charlot ...
, was a journalist, playwright and lyricist of opérettes. Secondly, in 1883 he married Célinie Zénaïde Dupont (1829 – 1892). Lastly, in 1896 he married Victoria Caroline Gum (1859 -).
References
External links
Picture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefort, Jules
French operatic baritones
1822 births
1898 deaths
Singers from Paris
19th-century French male singers