Louis Nourrit (4 August 1780,

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

– 23 September 1831, Brunoy) was an early 19th-century French tenor. Throughout his operatic career, Nourrit also operated as a diamond merchant.

Biography

After he left Montpellier, he was admitted at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1802 where he received lessons from Pierre-Jean Garat. In 1805 he made his debut at the Paris Opéra as Renaud in Gluck's '' Armide''. After serving as the understudy to Étienne Lainez for a few years, he was promoted to the Opéra's leading tenor in 1812. He took part in the premieres of '' Les Abencérages'' by

Luigi Cherubini Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...

(1813) and '' Olimpie'' by Gaspare Spontini (1819). Other roles included those of Orphée in ''Aladin ou La lampe merveilleuse'', an opéra féerie of 1822 by

Nicolò Nicolò () is an Italian male given name. Another variation is Niccolò, most common in Tuscany. It may refer to: * Nicolò Albertini, statesman * Nicolò Amati, luthier * Nicolò Barella, Italian footballer * Nicolò Barattieri, Italian engineer ...

), Harem in ''

La caravane du Caire ''La Caravane du Caire'' is an opera or opéra-ballet in three acts by André Grétry, set to a libretto by Étienne Morel de Chédeville. Tradition has it that either the libretto was partially writtenCharlton. or the idea of it was allegedly sug ...

'' by Grétry, and Colin in '' Le devin du village''. In 1821 he saluted his son Adolphe's tenor debut in Gluck's ''

Iphigénie en Tauride ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' (, ''Iphigenia in Tauris'') is a 1779 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard. With ''Iphigénie,'' Gluck took ...

'', by appearing in the minor role of a Scythian;"''Iphigénie en Tauride'' - Mlle Leroux, Nourrit fils", ''Le Miroir'', 211, 12 September 1821, p. 2 (accessible for free ''online'' a
Gallica - BnF
. in 1824 they co-starred in '' Les deux Salem'' by

Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul (10 June 1790 – 10 March 1875) was a French composer and music educator. He served as the first director of the Royal Conservatory of Liège from 1826–1862; having been appointed to that post by William I of the Nethe ...

; and they finally appeared together in Gioacchino Rossini's '' Le siège de Corinthe'' in 1826. This was the last stage appearance of Louis who thus left his position as the Opéra's principal tenor to his son. He died in 1831. His other son,

Auguste Nourrit Auguste Nourrit (1808-1853) was a 19th-century French tenor and opera director, younger brother of famous Adolphe Nourrit and son of tenor Louis Nourrit. Life Auguste Nourrit made his debut at the Opéra-Comique of Paris in 1826 and stayed ther ...

, was also an operatic tenor. Other performances by Louis Nourrit included: * '' Fernand Cortez'' (28 November 1809), by Gaspare Spontini * ''

Les bayadères ''Les bayadères'' is an opera in three acts by the composer Charles-Simon Catel. The French-language libretto, by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy, is based on Voltaire's story ''L'education d'un prince''. It was first performed on 8 August 1810 ...

'' (8 August 1810) by Charles-Simon Catel * '' La mort d'Abel'' (1810) by Rodolphe Kreutzer * '' Les amazones'' (1811) by Étienne Méhul * '' L'oriflamme'' (1814), by Étienne Méhul.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nourrit, Louis 1780 births 1832 deaths Musicians from Montpellier Conservatoire de Paris alumni French operatic tenors 19th-century French male opera singers