Alain Vanzo

Alain Vanzo (April 2, 1928 - January 27, 2002)was a French opera singer and composer, virtually the only French tenor of international standing of the postwar era.

Life and career

Vanzo was born in Monte Carlo, Monaco, the son of an Italian father and a French mother. He started singing at a young age in the church choir. At 18, he started singing popular songs with a small band called "La Bastringue". He sang at the Théâtre du Châtelet, during the 1951-52 season, as a double for Luis Mariano in the operetta "Le Chanteur de Mexico", while taking voice lessons with Rolande Darcoeur in Paris. His breakthrough came in 1954, when he participated in a singing contest at Cannes, and won the first prize.

Vanzo was then immediately invited to sing at the Opéra-Comique andat the Palais Garnier quickly establishing himself in the standardFrench lyric repertory, such as Nadir in "Les pecheurs de perles", Gérald in "Lakmé", "Faust", Roméo in "Roméo et Juliette", Vincent in "Mireille", des Grieux in "Manon", etc. He also sang the Italian repertory, such as the Duke in "Rigoletto", Alfredo in "La Traviata", Rodolfo in "La Boheme". He won great acclaim at the Palais Garnier in 1960, as Edgardo in "Lucia di Lammermoor", opposite Joan Sutherland who was making her debut there. This was the beginning of his international career, appearing at many of the major opera houses in Europe, the Royal Opera House in London, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Liceu in Barcelona, the Vienna State Opera, etc. Vanzo also appeared in North America, on tour with the Paris Opera, singing "Faust", and in South America at the Teatro Colon in "Les contes d'Hoffmann". He sang at Carnegie Hall in New York, as Gennaro, in the famous 1965 concert version of "Lucrezia Borgia", opposite Montserrat Caballé.

As the years went by, Vanzo extended his repertory to more dramatic roles, such as Arrigo in the original french version of "I Vespri Siciliani", Adorno in "Simon Boccanegra", Cavaradossi in "Tosca", Robert in "Robert le Diable", Raoul in "Les Huguenots", Mylio in "Le roi d'Ys", and became internationally renowned as one of best exponent of the role of "Benvenuto Cellini" and "Werther".

Vanzo never officially retired, singing well into his 60s, mostly in recital, and appearing frequently on French television. He left relatively few commercial recordings, the most famous being "Lakmé", opposite Joan Sutherland, and conducted by Richard Bonynge.

Vanzo also composed, writing songs and two major works, the operetta "Pêcheur d'Etoile" which premiered at Lille, in 1972, and the lyrical drama "Les Chouans", which premiered at Avignon, in 1982.

Alain Vanzo died in Paris, on January 27 2002, of complications following a stroke, at the age of 73.

elected recordings

*Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles - Jeanine Micheau (Leila), Alain Vanzo (Nadir), Gabriel Bacquier (Zurgia), Lucien Lovano (Nourabad), Chœur de la RTF, Orchestre Radio-Lyrique, Conductor: Manuel Rosenthal. Paris, June 25 1959. GALA GL 100.504

Sources

* Alain Pâris, "Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle" (2 vols), Ed. Robert Laffont (Bouquins, Paris 1982, 4th Edn. 1995, 5th Edn 2004). ISBN 2-221-06660-X
* D. Hamilton (ed.),"The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to the World of Opera" (Simon and Schuster, New York 1987). ISBN 0-671-16732-X
* Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), "Guide de l’opéra", Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995). ISBN 2-213-01563-6
* The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta, James Anderson ISBN 0-517-09156-9