- Richard Verreau
Richard Verreau (
January 1 ,1926 -July 7 ,2005 ) was aFrench-Canadian operatictenor , particularly associated to the French and Italian repertories.Biography
Born Richard Verreault, in Chateau-Richer, near Québec City, he began singing as a child in church choir. He studied at the
Laval University with Émile Larochelle. In 1949, on a Quebec government scholarship, hewent to Paris and studied withRaoul Jobin . He made his debut at theOpéra de Lyon in 1951, where he sang the lead tenor roles in "Lakmé ", "Manon ", "Mireille ", and "Les Pecheurs de Perles ".In Europe, Verreau performed in Belgium, Italy, Austria, and even Russia(then the USSR). He made his debut at the
Royal Opera House in London, as the Duke in "Rigoletto ", in 1957, other roles there included: Alfredo in "La traviata ", Rodolfo in "La bohème ", Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly ".Back in North America, he appeared regularly with the Opera Guild of Montréal and the Théâtre lyrique de Nouvelle-France. He made his debut at the
New York City Opera in 1956, as Wilhelm Meister in "Mignon ", followed by his debut at theMetropolitan Opera as "Faust (opera) ", in 1963. He appeared at theSan Francisco Opera , as Roméo in "Roméo et Juliette ".He also performed as soloist with the
Montreal Symphony Orchestra and theNew York Philharmonic Orchestra .Verreau was praised for the velvety quality of his voice, and his warm tone, unfortunately, an unsuccessful throat surgery ended his career in1977.
In 1998, he was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada . In 2000, he was made an Officer of theNational Order of Quebec .ources
* "The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada", Cécile Huot.
External links
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Params=U1ARTU0003589 Richard Verreau]
The Canadian Encyclopedia
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