Maximilien-Nicolas Bouvet (1854 – 1943) was a French operatic baritone. Bouvet was born at

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

. In 1875, he appeared at the Eldorado café-concert in Paris with the song ''Les myrtes son flétries'' by Gustave Nadaud and de Faure. He made his debut at the

Opéra Royal de Wallonie The Opéra royal de Wallonie is a Belgian Opera house located on the Place de l'Opéra, in Liège, Belgium. Together with La Monnaie and the Vlaamse Opera, the ''Opéra royal'', as it is colloquially known, is one of the three major opera house ...

in Liege, and appeared at the

Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue f ...

in Paris in the premiere of ''Fanfan la Tulipe'' (title role) on 21 October 1882, followed in 1883 by ''

La fille de Madame Angot ''La fille de Madame Angot'' (''Madame Angot's Daughter'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Charles Lecocq with words by Clairville, Paul Siraudin and Victor Koning. It was premiered in Brussels in December 1872 and soon became a success in ...

'', ''L'amour qui passe'' and '' François les bas-bleus''.Noel E & Stoullig E. ''

Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique ''Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique'' ("The Annals of Theatre and Music") was an annual French periodical which covered French dramatic and lyric theatre for 42 years, from 1875 to 1916. The volumes also covered concert series and ne ...

, 9eme edition, 1883.'' G Charpentier et Cie, Paris, 1884. His debut at the Opéra-Comique was in 1884 as Figaro in '' Le Barbier de Seville''. At the Opéra-Comique he also sang Alfio (''Cavalleria rusticana''), Oreste (''Iphigénie en Tauride''), Garrido (''La Navarraise''), the Dutchman (''Flying Dutchman''), Marcel (''La Boheme''), Albert (''Werther''), Escamillo (''Carmen''), Ourrias (''Mireille'') and Zurga (''Les pêcheurs de perles''). In 1891 he sang Wotan in Siegfried in the house premiere at

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

(Bruxelles), and from 1891 to 1894 he was a guest artist at Covent Garden. From 1905 he taught, including a post from 1905 to 1911 at the

Paris Conservatoire 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 ...

. His final documented stage appearance was in the role of the Inquisitor in

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

and took place in 1911 at the Gaîté-Lyrique in Paris, alongside

Feodor Chaliapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...

. He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. A compilation of 13 of his records has been reissued on CD by

Marston Records Marston Records is an independent American record label. The label specializes in the remastering and reissuing of very early and rare recordings. It was founded in 1997 by Ward Marston and Scott Kessler. Releases on Marston Records Collecti ...

Roles created

*Title role in ''Fanfan la Tulipe'' (Paris, 1882) *Title role in '' François les bas-bleus'' (Paris, 1883) *Henri de Valois, 'King of Poland' in ''

Le roi malgré lui ''Le roi malgré lui'' (''King in Spite of Himself'' or ''The reluctant king'') is an opéra-comique in three acts by Emmanuel Chabrier of 1887 with an original libretto by Emile de Najac and Paul Burani. The opera is revived occasionally, but ...

'' (Paris, 1887) *Prince Karnac in ''

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 ...

'' (Paris, 1888) *The Bishop of Blois in ''

Esclarmonde ''Esclarmonde'' () is an opéra (french: opéra romanesque) in four acts and eight tableaux, with prologue and epilogue, by Jules Massenet, to a French libretto by Alfred Blau and Louis Ferdinand de Gramont. It was first performed at the Ex ...

'' (Paris, 1889) *Spendius in ''

Salammbô ''Salammbô'' (1862) is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert. It is set in Carthage immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt (241–237 BCE). Flaubert's principal source was Book I of the ''Histories'', written by the Greek hist ...

'' (Brussels, 1890) *Merlier in ''

L'attaque du moulin ''L'attaque du moulin'' (''The Attack on the Mill'') is a ''drame lyrique'' (opera) in four acts by the French composer Alfred Bruneau. The libretto, by Louis Gallet with the collaboration of Émile Zola, is based on a short story by Zola (included ...

'' (Paris, 1893) *Harès in ''

Messaline ''Messaline'' (''Messalina'') is an operatic tragédie lyrique in four acts by Isidore de Lara. The librettists were Paul Armand Silvestre and Eugène Morand. The opera premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 21 March 1899 where it was rec ...

'' (Monte Carlo, 1899)

References

1854 births 1943 deaths People from La Rochelle Conservatoire de Paris alumni Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris French operatic baritones 20th-century French male opera singers 19th-century French male opera singers 20th-century French male musicians {{France-opera-singer-stub