Émile Gour

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Émile Gour (born April 21, 1893 in L'Assomption , † September 24, 1970 in Montreal ) was a Canadian singer (tenor) and choirmaster.

Live and act

Gour studied piano and harmony with Alphonse Lavallée-Smith and singing with Salvator Issaurel from 1915 to 1922 . He initially worked for the Canadian Post and performed as a solo singer in the churches of St-Louis-de-France , St-Jean-Baptiste and Notre-Dame in Montreal. From 1940 he was choirmaster at the churches of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and St-Antonin . In the silent film era, he appeared in the opening act of film screenings with arias and excerpts from operas. With the organist Joseph Bonnet he gave concerts in Toronto, Guelph and London / Ontario.

In 1921 he sang Jesus in Jules Massenet's oratorio Marie-Magdeleine in Montreal and earned the reputation of a “Canadian Caruso”. In 1923 he sang the title role in Camille Saint-Saëns ' opera Samson et Dalila in Worcester / Massachusetts , and in 1928 King David in Arthur Honegger's Le Roi David . He formed the Montreal Quartet with Armand Gauthier , Charles-Émile Brodeur and Hercule Lavoie , and was a member of the Issaurel quartets. In New York he made some recordings for the Columbia Records label .

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