- Roger Bourdin
Roger Bourdin (
June 14 ,1900 ,Levallois-Perret -September 14 ,1973 ,Paris ) was a Frenchbaritone , particularly associated with the French repertory. His career was largely based in France.Life and career
Bourdin studied at the Paris Conservatory, where he was a pupil of André Gresse and Jacques Ismerdon. He made his professional debut at the
Opéra-Comique in 1922, as Lescaut in "Manon ". His debut at thePalais Garnier took place in 1942, inHenri Rabaud 's "Mârouf, savetier du Caire". The major part of his career was to be spent between these two theatres, where he created some 30 roles.He seldom performed outside France, but did a few guest appearances at the
Royal Opera House in London,La Scala in Milan, and theTeatro Colon in Buenos Aires.His most memorable roles were: Clavaroche in
André Messager 's "Fortunio", Metternich inArthur Honegger andJacques Ibert 's "L'Aiglon", Duparquet inReynaldo Hahn 's "Ciboulette", Lheureux in Emmanuel Bondeville's "Madame Bovary", the lead inDarius Milhaud 's "Bolivar", but also standard roles such as Valentin, Athanael, Onegin, and Sharpless. In all he sang an estimated 100 roles throughout his long career.Bourdin was also active in
operetta , and as a recitalist. Afterretiring from the stage in 1959, he became a teacher at the Paris Conservatory.He can be heard in two complete recordings, "Faust" and "Thais", opposite his wife soprano
Géori Boué .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
* 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
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