Jean-Blaise Martin

Jean-Blaise Martin (February 24, 1768, Paris - October 28, 1837, Tourzel-Ronzières) was a French opera singer whose tessitura lay between tenor and baritone, which became later known as "baryton-martin".

Life and career

Jean-Blaise Martin began singing publickly as a child, before his voice broke. He made his professional operatic debut in 1789, at the Théâtre Feydeau, in Paris, in a parody called "Le Marquis de Tulipano". He then studied with Madame Dugazon, and made his debut at the Opéra-Comique in 1794, and sang there until 1823. He became a member of the administrative comity of this theatre in 1801. He also taught at the "Conservatoire de Musique" of Paris, from 1825 to 1837.

During his career, he created some 15 roles in operas by Nicolas Dalayrac, François Devienne, André Grétry, Étienne Méhul, Nicolas Isouard, Ferdinando Paer, etc.

Martin's voice was described as a "ténor grave et sombre", meaning a deep-voiced dark tenor, or as a "baryton aigu et clair", meaning a clear-voiced high baritone. His vocal type became known as "baryton-martin", most often found in French operetta. Modern example of this voice type were French baritone Michel Dens, or closer tous Bernard Sinclair [external link] , who can be heard in a few operetta recordings such as "La fille de Madame Angot", "Les cloches de Corneville", and "Valses de Vienne".

In the operatic repertoire, the most famous role for baryton-martin is Pelléas in Claude Debussy 's "Pelléas et Mélisande". Camille Maurane and Jacques Jansen are widely recognized as the best exponents of the role.

Sources

* 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

External references

* [http://pagesperso-orange.fr/anao/interpr/sinclairi.html Bernard Sinclair (French biography)]

References