Henri-Étienne Dérivis (2 August 1780 – 1 February 1856) was a French operatic

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

. For 25 years he was a leading singer 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 kn ...

where he made his debut in 1803. He was born in

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

and died in

Livry-Gargan Livry-Gargan () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History During the Middle Ages, the lordship of Livry () was held by members of the House of Garlande before passing to Pierr ...

at the age of 75.

Life and career

Dérivis was born in Albi, a town in southern France and entered the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

in December 1799. He made his debut at the Paris Opéra on 11 February 1803 as Sarastro in ''Les Mystères d'lsis'' (the French version of Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

''). The same year he was also appointed a singer at

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's court. During the course of his 25-year career at the Opéra, he performed all the leading bass roles and sang in many world premieres, including Spontini's '' La vestale'' and Rossini's '' Le siège de Corinthe''. His last appearance there was on 5 May 1828 as Œdipe in Sacchini's ''

Œdipe à Colone () is an operatic tragédie lyrique by Antonio Sacchini first performed at Versailles on 4 January 1786 in the presence of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The libretto, by Nicolas-François Guillard, is based on the play ''Oedipus at Colonu ...

'', a role he had sung to great success many times in his career. After retiring from the company, he continued to perform in French provincial theatres for several more years. Dérivis died in

, a suburb of Paris, in 1856 at the age of 75. His wife died in 1819. She had had a very brief career as a soprano at the Paris Opéra where she performed under her maiden name, Naudet. Their son Prosper Dérivis was also a prominent operatic bass and their granddaughter Maria Dérivis sang leading

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

roles in various European opera houses in the late 19th century.

Roles created

The roles created by Dérivis during his time at the Paris Opéra include: * Chief Priest in Spontini's '' La vestale'' (1807) * Polyxêne in Kreutzer's ''Aristippe'' (1808) * High Priest in Spontini's '' Fernand Cortez'' (1809) * Adam in Lesueur's '' La mort d'Adam et son apothéose'' (1809) * Olkar in Catel's ''

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'' (1810) * Zéthus in Méhul's '' Les amazones'' (1811) * Alemar in Cherubini's ''

Les Abencérages (English: ''The Abencerrages, or The standard of Granada'') is an opera in three acts by Luigi Cherubini with a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy, based on the novel ''Gonzalve de Cordoue'' by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian. It was first perform ...

'' (1813) * Antigone in Spontini's '' Olimpie'' (1819) * King Timorkan in Isouard's ''Aladin ou La lampe merveilleuse'' (1822) * Adam in Kreutzer's '' La mort d'Abel'' (1823) * Appius in Berton's ''Virginie ou Les décemvirs'' (1823) * Vendôme in Auber's ''Vendôme en Espagne'' (1823) * Mahomet II in Rossini's '' Le siège de Corinthe'' (1826) * Banquo in Chélard's ''Macbeth'' (1827)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derivis, Henri-Etienne 19th-century French male opera singers Operatic basses 1780 births 1856 deaths