René Hérent (born

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Esca ...

16 May 1897, died Paris January 1966) was a French tenor whose career was centred on the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienn ...

in Paris, where he played supporting roles for many years, and left several recordings.Kutsch KJ, Riemens L. René Hérent. In : ''Unvergängliche Stimmen: Sängerlexikon.'' Francke Verlag, Bern and Munchen, 1982.

Life and career

Hérent made his debut on 17 August 1918 as Guillot de Morfontaine in Massenet's ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was fi ...

''. At the Opéra-Comique he created many roles, either in Paris or world premieres, including Mercure in ''Amphytrion 38'', the dancing master in ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Opus number, Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one o ...

'', Un valet in ''

Don Quichotte ''Don Quichotte'' (''Don Quixote'') is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn. It was first performed on 19 February 1910 at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Massenet's ''comédie-héroïque'', like many dramati ...

'', le vieillard and la rainette in ''

L'enfant et les sortilèges ''L'enfant et les sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties'' (''The Child and the Spells: A Lyric Fantasy in Two Parts'') is an opera in one act, with music by Maurice Ravel to a libretto by Colette. It is Ravel's second opera, his first b ...

'', Mémucan-Aman in ''Esther de Carpentras'', Ouf 1er in '' L'étoile'', Prince de Chabran in ''Femme nue'', Vašek in '' La fiancée vendue'', Galipot in ''Frasquita'', Lubin in ''Georges Dandin'', Betto in ''

Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Pucc ...

'', Mouzzafer in ''Le Hulla'', Madame Poiretapée in ''

Mesdames de la Halle ''Mesdames de la Halle'' is an opérette bouffe in one act by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Armand Lapointe. It was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Paris on 3 March 1858. and was the first work of Offenbach's at th ...

'', Machecourt in ''Mon oncle Benjamin'', Bertrand in ''Le roi d’Yvetot'', Ali in ''Le Sicilien'', Laguigne in '' Le testament de la tante Caroline'', Le patron in ''

Ciboulette ''Ciboulette'' is a French opérette in three acts, music by Reynaldo Hahn, libretto by Robert de Flers and Francis de Croisset, first performed at the Théâtre des Variétés, in Paris, on 7 April 1923. One of the most elegant and refined com ...

'', and Sellem in ''

Le libertin ''Le Libertin'' (The Libertine) is a French comedy film directed by Gabriel Aghion and released in 2000. It is an adaptation of a 1997 play by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt. Synopsis The philosopher Denis Diderot, one of the modernists of the French ...

''.Wolff, Stéphane. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900–1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. He created the role of the Prince de Chabran in ''La Femme nue'' by Février in Monte Carlo in 1929 and Bottom in '' Puck'' by Delannoy in Strasbourg in 1949. His repertoire at the Salle Favart also included

Léveillé Léveillé may refer to: * André Léveillé (born 1933), a politician in Quebec, Canada * André Léveillé (painter) (1880–1962), a French painter * Augustin Abel Hector Léveillé (1863–1918), a botanist * Joseph-Henri Léveillé (1796–187 ...

, Remendado, Dickson, Bardolphe,

Torquemada Torquemada may refer to: People * Juan de Torquemada (cardinal) (1388–1468), Spanish cardinal and ecclesiastical writer * Tomás de Torquemada (1420–1498), prominent leader of the Spanish Inquisition * Antonio de Torquemada (c. 1507– ...

, Le poète, le noctambule, Sganarelle, Doublemain, Cantarelli, Bertrand, and Schmidt. In light opera Hérent sang Joseph Calicot in the Paris premiere of ''Madame de Pompadour'' at the

Théâtre Marigny The Théâtre Marigny is a theatre in Paris, situated near the junction of the Champs-Élysées and the Avenue Marigny in the 8th arrondissement. It was originally built to designs of the architect Charles Garnier for the display of a panoram ...

and Periola in ''Mandrin'' at the Théâtre Mogador. In 1955, Hérent sang Panatellas in a Poste National radio production of ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French libretto based on the 1829 one act play ''Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement'' by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on ...

'', with

Fanély Revoil Fanély Revoil, born Marseille 25 September 1906, died Annonay 31 January 1999, was a French singer who had a major career in opera and operetta between the 1930s and 1989.’L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en Franc ...

in the title role and Duvaleix as the Vice-roi.''L'Avant-Scène Opéra, La Périchole'' - No 66, August 1984, p114. He also sang as a guest artist at the Prague National Opera, Covent Garden, Geneva, Monte Carlo Opera, Brussels, Amsterdam and in Rio de Janeiro.

Discography

On records, Hérent may be heard as Guillot in the classic 1955 Opéra-Comique recording of ''Manon'' conducted by

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conducting, conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting enga ...

, in ''L'heure espagnole'' conducted by Andre Cluytens (Torquemada), ''Le petit duc'' under

Gressier Gressier (; ht, Gresye) is a commune in the Port-au-Prince Arrondissement, in the Ouest department of Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on ...

(Frimousse), ''L'étoile'' under Désormière (Ouf), ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuse ...

'' (Alcindoro) under Tzipine, ''Otello'' (Cassio) under Gressier, ''

La Mascotte ''La mascotte'' (''The Mascot'') is a three-act opéra comique with music by Edmond Audran and words by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot. The story concerns a farm girl who is a "mascotte": someone with the mystic power to bring good luck to all aroun ...

'' (Rocco) under Gressier, and ''Boris Godunov'' (Missail) under Ansermet. He also recorded excerpts from '' Passionément'', ''La Petite dame du train bleu'', ''

Phi-Phi ''Phi-Phi'' is an opérette légère in three acts with music by Henri Christiné and a French libretto by Albert Willemetz and Fabien Solar. The piece was one which founded the new style of French comédie musicale, the first to really use the ...

'' and ''Mandrin'' in the 1930s. ’L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en France (1918–1940)
, accessed 15.05.11. (in French)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herent, Rene 1897 births 1966 deaths French operatic tenors 20th-century French male opera singers People from Cambrai