Lucien Fugère

Lucien Fugère (July 22, 1848, Paris - January 15, 1935, Paris) was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory and Mozart roles, he enjoyed an exceptionally long career, singing into his 80s.

Life and career

Fugère was working as a jewellery representative, when he decided to try his luck at a career in music. After taking private voice lessons (he was refused by the Paris Conservatory) he made his debut as a chansonnier at the Bataclan in 1870. He then made his debut in operetta at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, in 1874, in "La branche cassée" by Serpette.

The turning point of his career came in 1877, when he made his debut atthe Opéra-Comique, as Jean, in "Les noces de Jeannette" by Victor Massé. He was to perform there regularly until 1920, creating roles in more than 30 operas, notably, the father in "Louise" by Gustave Charpentier, Henri de Valois in "Le roi malgré lui" by Emmanuel Chabrier, and for Jules Massenet, Pandolfe in "Cendrillon", the Devil in "Grisélidis", des Grieux in "Le portrait de Manon", Sancho in "Don Quichotte", Boniface in "Le jongleur de Notre-Dame", and for André Messager, Maitre André in "Fortunio", le Duc de Longueville in "La basoche". He also sang in roles such as Mozart 's Figaro, Leporello, Papageno, Falstaff, and appeared at the "Gaiété-Lyrique" from 1908 until 1919.

Fugère sang le Duc de Longueville one last time at the Opéra-Comique in1929, and his final performance on stage was as Rossini's Bartolo, at the "Trianon-Lyrique", in 1933, at the age of 85.

An outstanding singing-actor and a fine musician, Lucien Fugère enjoyed one of the longest operatic careers of all times.

Lucien's brother Paul Fugère (1851-c.1910) was also a notable operatic baritone.

References

* 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 and Operetta", James Anderson ISBN 0-517-09156-9