Hippolyte Belhomme
Encyclopedia
Hippolyte-Adolphe Belhomme, (2 December 1854, Paris - 16 January 1923) was a prominent French bass or bass-baritone and long-term member of the Opéra-Comique
company in Paris. He also made some important early opera recordings, displaying on them a lyrical voice of great flexibility.
at the Paris Conservatoire. Belhomme made his debut as Baskir in Lalla-Roukh at the Opéra-Comique on 11 November 1879; although of short stature his vocal authority was impressive.
Belhomme sang much of the repertoire for the basses chantantes at the Opéra-Comique up to June 1886 and then again from 1891 to 1916: he sang in Carmen
(Escamillo and Dancaïre), Cendrillon
(Pandolphe), La fille du régiment
(Sulpice) Madama Butterfly
(the Bonze), Mignon
(Lothario), Tosca
(Sacristan) and Werther
(Le bailli), as well as roles in many other French and Italian operas in the Opéra-Comique repertory. Belhomme created the following roles at the Opéra-Comique:
He also spent time at the opera houses of Lyon (September 1886 to May 1899) and Marseille (1889–90) before returning to the Opéra-Comique in September 1891, where he took part in Paris premieres of Falstaff and La bohème.
From 1902 Belhomme appeared each season at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, as Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail
(in French) and the devil in Grisélidis
in 1902, Doronte in Attendez-moi sous l'orme in 1903, the sacristan in Tosca in 1904, the vicar in Pepita Jiménez
in 1905, Brander in La damnation de Faust and a soldier in The Trojans in 1906, Kezal in La fiancée vendue
and a Jew in Salomé
in 1907.
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
company in Paris. He also made some important early opera recordings, displaying on them a lyrical voice of great flexibility.
Career
As a pupil of Boulanger and Ponchard he won second prize for singing and opéra comiqueOpéra comique
Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
at the Paris Conservatoire. Belhomme made his debut as Baskir in Lalla-Roukh at the Opéra-Comique on 11 November 1879; although of short stature his vocal authority was impressive.
Belhomme sang much of the repertoire for the basses chantantes at the Opéra-Comique up to June 1886 and then again from 1891 to 1916: he sang in Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
(Escamillo and Dancaïre), Cendrillon
Cendrillon
Cendrillon is an opera—described as a "fairy tale"—in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Cain based on Perrault's 1698 version of the Cinderella fairy tale. The scenario was conceived by Massenet and Cain at the Cavendish Hotel while they were in London for the...
(Pandolphe), La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
(Sulpice) Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
(the Bonze), Mignon
Mignon
Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
(Lothario), Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
(Sacristan) and Werther
Werther
Werther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....
(Le bailli), as well as roles in many other French and Italian operas in the Opéra-Comique repertory. Belhomme created the following roles at the Opéra-Comique:
- Mathurin in Monsieur de Floridor
- Crespel in Les contes d'HoffmannLes contes d'HoffmannLes contes d'Hoffmann is an opéra by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on short stories by E. T. A...
(1881) - Cordier in Les fugitifs
- Tripalarga in La jota
- Le bohême in LouiseLouise (opera)Louise is an opera in four acts by Gustave Charpentier to an original French libretto by the composer, with some contributions by Saint-Pol-Roux, a symbolist poet and inspiration of the surrealists....
(1900) - Marchande d’allumettes in Le sonneur
- Télémaque in Hémistikos
- Bustamente in La NavarraiseLa NavarraiseLa Navarraise is an opera in one act by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Jules Claretie and Henri Cain, based on Claretie's novel La Cigarette...
(Paris premiere) - Le père Vincent in Noel
- Landry in On ne badine pas avec l’amour
- Albornas in La sorcière
- Morel in ThérèseThérèse (opera)Thérèse is an opera in two acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Jules Claretie. It was first performed at the Opéra in Monte Carlo on 7 February 1907, with Lucy Arbell in the title role...
(Paris premiere) - Un cocher in Les visitadines
- Le précepteur in Le voile de bonheur
- Un ainé in Léone
He also spent time at the opera houses of Lyon (September 1886 to May 1899) and Marseille (1889–90) before returning to the Opéra-Comique in September 1891, where he took part in Paris premieres of Falstaff and La bohème.
From 1902 Belhomme appeared each season at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, as Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
(in French) and the devil in Grisélidis
Grisélidis
Grisélidis is an opera in three acts and a prologue by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Armand Silvestre and Eugène Morand. It is based on the play by the same authors first performed at the Comédie-Française on 15 May 1891, which is drawn from the medieval tale of 'patient Grissil'...
in 1902, Doronte in Attendez-moi sous l'orme in 1903, the sacristan in Tosca in 1904, the vicar in Pepita Jiménez
Pepita Jiménez
Pepita Jiménez is a lyric comedy or comic opera with music written by the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz. The original opera was written in one act and used an English libretto by Albéniz's patron and collaborator, the Englishman Francis Money-Coutts, which is based on the novel of the same name by...
in 1905, Brander in La damnation de Faust and a soldier in The Trojans in 1906, Kezal in La fiancée vendue
The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered to have made a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863–66, and first performed at the...
and a Jew in Salomé
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
in 1907.