Léopold Simoneau
Léopold Simoneau , CC , CQ (born May 3, 1916 in Saint-Flavien , Québec , † August 24, 2006 in Victoria , British Columbia ) was a Canadian opera and concert singer ( lyric tenor ).
Life
Simoneau first sang in the church choir before starting to take singing lessons in 1939. In 1941 he moved to Montreal to study with the singing teacher Salvator Issaurel , in whose class he also met his future wife, the soprano Pierrette Alarie (1921–2011), whom he married in 1946.
In 1941 he had his first stage appearance in Lakmé at the Variétés Lyriques, where he appeared regularly in the following years, mostly at Alarie's side. In addition, the first concerts were broadcast on the radio. In 1943 Simoneau sang his first Mozart part in a performance of Le nozze di Figaro at the Montréal Festival under Sir Thomas Beecham . From 1945 he continued his studies in New York.
In 1949 the tenor went to Europe, where he conquered the continent from the Opéra-Comique in Paris , above all as a celebrated Mozart singer: he made guest appearances at La Scala in Milan and the Vienna State Opera , and sang regularly at the Glyndebourne , Aix- en-Provence and Edinburgh and from 1956 also at the Salzburg Festival . There were also guest appearances in North and South America, including at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
In addition to his opera roles, he also devoted himself extensively and with great success to song singing with an emphasis on French literature. After a performance of the Messiah on November 24, 1970, he withdrew from the stage.
As early as 1963 he had started to teach parallel to his singing career. From 1967 he also worked as a cultural politician for the state government of Québec. In 1971 he was one of the founders and the first artistic director of the Opéra du Québec , but gave up the post after less than a year.
In 1972 the family moved to California, where Simoneau also taught intensively, before returning to Canada in 1982, where the Simoneau / Alarie couple founded and directed the Canada Opera Piccola .
Although Simoneau was primarily regarded as a Mozart singer who set standards to this day with an unmistakable sense of style and great vocal beauty, he had a large repertoire from Handel to Verdi and Stravinsky . His status as a singer is proven by numerous recordings, many of them together with his wife.
Honors
- Prix Archambault, 1944
- Prix de musique Calixa-Lavallée (1959, with Alarie)
- Dr. Mus. hc (University of Ottawa), 1969; (Université Laval) 1973
- LLD hc (Brock University) 1971
- Officer of the Order of Canada , 1971
- Officier de l ' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1990)
- Companion of the Order of Canada (1995)
- Chevalier de l ' Ordre national du Québec (1997)
Discography (excerpt)
- 'The Ultimate Collection' (10 CDs)
Footnotes
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Simoneau, Léopold |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian opera and concert singer (lyric tenor) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 3, 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saint-Flavien , Quebec |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 24, 2006 |
| Place of death | Victoria , British Columbia |