Robert Savoie

Robert Savoie (born April 21, 1927 in Montreal , † September 14, 2007 ibid) was a Canadian opera singer (baritone) and vocal teacher.

Savoie studied five years with Pauline Donalda and made her debut in 1948 with her Opera Guild as Second Philistine in Samson et Dalila . After having sung supporting roles in the company for four years, he went to Milan and continued his training there with Antonio Narducci . He made his debut in Milan as Scarpia in Tosca at the Teatro Nuevo .

In 1954 he returned to Canada. There he appeared on radio and television, sang Rodrigo in Don Carlo (1956), the title role in Falstaff (1958), Leporello in Don Giovanni (1964), Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (1965 and 1969) with the Opera Guild. , Marcello in La Bohème (1966), Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro (1967) and the title role in The Barber of Seville (1968). He took part in several productions of the Montreal Fesativals , sang Valentin in Faust at Expo 67 , took part in the Stratford Festival in 1968 and in the Ottawa Festival in 1977 . At the Opéra du Québec he appeared in the 1973-1974 season in productions of Don Giovanni , Manon , Falstaff and Madama Butterfly .

From 1961 to 1966 Savoie was engaged at the Covent Garden Opera , where he sang the Schaunard in La Bohème and the title role in Rigoletto . He also appeared at Sadler's Wells and the Scottish Opera (1965–1967), in Toulouse in Prokofiev's The Player and in Johannisburg.

At ORTF , he was a soloist in Roger Matton's Te Deum in 1969 , and in 1970 toured southern France with a production of Don Quichotte as Sancho Panza alongside Joseph Rouleau in the title role. He sang Falstaff at the inauguration of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington in 1971, and the following year he performed at Carnegie Hall in La damnation de Faust . On the BBC , he sang Rodrigo in the original French version of Don Carlos alongside Édith Tremblay , André Turp , Émile Belcourt and Joseph Rouleau. In 1981 he withdrew from the stage and only appeared as a concert singer.

From 1976 Savoie was the artistic director of the Lachine arrondissement, responsible for the cultural programs. From 1985 he directed the Festival de musique de Lachine and founded the Société des concerts Lachine . From 1977 to 1980 he was Vice President of the Mouvement d'action pour l'art lyrique du Québec . With André Turp and Joseph Rouleau , he supported the founding of the Opéra de Montréal and the Orchester métropolitain , of which he was president from 1981 to 1985. He also gave master classes in the USA and Canada and taught singing at McGill University .

Savoie was appointed Chevalier des Ordre de la Pléiade in 1991 and Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002 . In 1998 he published an autobiography under the title Figaro-ci, Figaro-là: mémoires d'un baryton voyageur . He was the brother of the pianist André-Sébastien Savoie and the uncle of the singer Gaétan Laperrière .

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personal data
SURNAME	Savoie, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Canadian opera singer (baritone) and vocal teacher
DATE OF BIRTH	April 21, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH	Montreal
DATE OF DEATH	September 14, 2007
Place of death	Montreal