Eugène Oudin

Eugène Esperance Oudin (24 February 1858 - 4 November 1894) was an American baritone, composer and translator of the Victorian era.

Life and career

Early years

Oudin was born in New York to French Canadian parents. He sang as a boy soprano in the choir of Dr. Tyng’s church in New York City and studied music under Moderati. Oudin showed talent and was eventually entrusted with the baritone solos at St. Stephen’s Roman Catholic Church. He studied Law at Yale University and was admitted to the Bar in 1879, joining the offices of the legal firm Evart, Southmayd and Choate. In 1881 he set up in legal practice for himself and continued this work for three years, until he accepted an offer to join the American Opera Company, singing for them several times in the western United States.

Travelling to Europe in May 1886, Oudin met fellow New Yorker Lady Randolph Churchill in London, who set him up as a salon singer, during which period he appeared before British aristocracy, including The Prince of Wales. [New York Times obituary, November 5 1894]

Opera and concert years

Oudin made his operatic stage debut in New York as Montosol in "Josephine Sold by Her Sisters" at Wallack's Theatre in August 1886 under the direction of John A. McCaull who brought Oudin over from the Great Britain to appear with his McCaull Opera Company. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9903EFDC1130E533A25750C2A96E9C94679FD7CF&oref=slogin 1886 New York Times article about foreign singers in "Josephine Sold by her Sisters"] ] During this production he met his future wife, the soprano Louise Parker, who was his leading lady in the operetta.

In 1887, he starred as Count Erminio in "Gasparone" by Karl Millöcker in New York City at the Standard Theatre, together with Lillian Russell and J. H. Ryley. The "New York Times" wrote that his singing was an "especial feature" of the piece, and that "This artist has lost much of the self-consciousness that marked his early efforts, and his acting is now quite animated." [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9804E3DD1730E633A25754C1A9639C94669FD7CF&oref=slogin "New York Times" review of 1887 New York production] ] Franz von Suppé's opera "Die Jagd nach dem Glück" was a failure in Vienna but was popular abroad and ran at Palmer’s Theatre in New York as "Clover" from 8 May 1889 with Oudin and DeWolf Hopper in the cast. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=cyC-YCK7FigC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=eug%C3%A8ne+oudin&source=web&ots=MQN4csdeGs&sig=-GG4v_Qb_L-xmIPp6mxl21HnZ-o#PPA110,M1 "Operetta: A Theatrical History", by Richard Traubner, p. 110] ] He also appeared in "Dorothy" in New York with Lillian Russell. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=1UM5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA416&lpg=PA416&dq=Dorothy+opera+cellier+Lydia+Geoffrey+Harry+Lurcher&source=web&ots=mPgBZEedVq&sig=t8xRGz7I9yTnlLx7zkr4HvSoCjo#PPA416,M1 Cast information for "Dorothy" Adams, William Davenport. "A Dictionary of the Drama" (1904) Chatto & Windus, p. 416] ]

Later in 1889, Oudin was again singing in concerts in London, and in 1891 he sang the part of the Templar Brian de Bois Guilbert in Arthur Sullivan’s grand opera, "Ivanhoe", at the Royal English Opera House. Richard D'Oyly Carte intended to follow "Ivanhoe" with a production of Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, with Oudin in the title role. Sir Henry Wood, then répétiteur at the Royal English Opera House, later recalled in his memoirs, "I was already preparing "The Flying Dutchman" with Eugène Oudin in the name part. He would have been superb. However, plans were altered and the "Dutchman" was shelved." [Wood, Henry, "My Life of Music", Victor Gollancz Ltd., London (1938)] In 1892, Oudin played the title role in Tschaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" at the Olympic Theatre in London, conducted by Wood. Tschaikovsky was attached to Oudin both as an artist and a man and persuaded him to take part in Symphony Concerts in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in Russia during 1893. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=nsdyVXNwj1MC&pg=RA1-PA712&lpg=RA1-PA712&dq=eugene+oudin&source=web&ots=k_9Tbqpqnc&sig=G3NU4jamd05Oa5YWrAK_YrcXRBc#PRA1-PA712,M1 "The Life And Letters Of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky", by Modeste Tchaikovsky] ]

Returning to England in January 1894, Oudin took part in concert performances of "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci" on 20 January 1894 at The Queen’s Hall in London. Later that year he made a great success in Schumann's oratorio, "Scenes from Goethe's Faust". From 2 to 5 October 1894, Oudin took part in the Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival. [ [http://www.concertprogrammes.org.uk/html/search/verb/GetRecord/4297 Summary of the concert programme] ] After taking part in a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on 20 October 1894 at The Queen's Hall in London, Oudin was so caught up by the audience’s enthusiasm that, while visiting the conductor Hans Richter in the artist's room, he was struck down by a stroke, from which he died two weeks later at the age of only 36. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=qz-s4zdLCNsC&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=eugene+oudin&source=web&ots=WrHTwkvRHF&sig=uPTJF_lqi69dfeaEn94C3vL9__k#PPA28,M1 "Ibbs and Tillett: The Rise and Fall of a Musical Empire", by Christopher Fifield] ]

Translator and songwriter

During the last few years of his life, Oudin also translated the lyrics of French songs and arias into English and also wrote the words and music of several songs. [ [http://www.sheetmusicwarehouse.co.uk/categories.php?category=19th%20Century%20Songs List of songs, including some written and translated by Oudin] ] Oudin died at his London home in 1894 aged 36. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D06EFD71131E033A25756C0A9679D94659ED7CF Death notice] ] A benefit concert was held for his widow and children in London in 1895, which raised £1,000.

References

External links

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9400EFD71131E033A25756C0A9679D94659ED7CF Obituary of Oudin in the New York Times]
* [http://grandemusica.net/musical-biographies-o/oudin-eugene-esperance.html Oudin on Granda Musica]