Albert Lance

Albert Lance (born July 12, 1925) is a French tenor of Australian origin, based in France from the mid 1950s onwards, where he enjoyed a highly successful career.

Born Albert Lance Ingram in Adelaide, Australia, where he began singing as a child, in school and in church choir. His mother made him study voice at the Melbourne Music Conservatory. After graduation, he sang in cafés and night clubs, and joined a touring company and performed throughout Australia, singing popular songs. The director of that company, was impressed enough to send him for an audition at the Melbourne Opera, where he was immediately offered a contract. He made his debut there, as Cavaradossi in "Tosca", in 1950, and went on to sing Rodolfo in "La Boheme", and Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly", to considerable acclaim. He then appeared as the lead in "Les contes d'Hoffmann" given in honor of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Lance was noticed by the wife of the famed voice teacher Modesti, who invited him to France, for further study. Under Modesti's guidance, and with the help of his assistant, Simone Féjart, Lance acquired considerable refinement, both vocal and musical. Lance made his Paris debut at the Opéra-Comique in 1955, as Cavaradossi. The following year, he made his debut at the Palais Garnier, as "Faust", and the success was immediate. He quickly established himself as one of the leading "french tenors" of the time, at both the Opéra-Comique and the Opéra until 1972, singing the great French roles such as Roméo in "Roméo et Juliette", des Grieux in "Manon", "Werther", Don Jose in "Carmen", etc. He was also invited to perform at the opera houses of Lyon, Bordeaux, and Marseille, as well as London, Vienna, Moscow, Leningrad, Buenos Aires. Lance was also much appreciated in the Italian repertory, adding to his repertory the lead tenor roles in "Rigoletto", "La Traviata", "Cavalleria rusticana", "Pagliacci" and others.

Lance made his American debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1961, in the creation of Dello Joio's "Blood Moon". He also appeared in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

Lance became a permanent member of the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg from 1973 until his retirement in 1977. After his retirement from the stage, Lance turned to full-time teaching, first at the Music Conservatory of Nice, and later Antibes. Lance becamea French citizen in 1967.

Lance left a few recordings, notably a complete "Werther" made in 1964, opposite Rita Gorr, Mady Mesplé, Gabriel Bacquier, under Jesus Etcheverry. EMI has published the kinescope of the 1958 Paris debut of Maria Callas, "La Grande Nuit de l'Opéra," in which M.Lance appeared, on DVD. He is heard in an excerpt from "Il trovatore", and is seen in a staged Act II of "Tosca", opposite Callas and Tito Gobbi, conducted by Georges Sébastian.

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