Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol
Encyclopedia
Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol (also known as Eugène Massol) (23 August 1802 - 30 October 1887) was a French operatic tenor
and later baritone
who sang in the world premieres of many French opera
s.
Massol was born in Lodève
and trained at the Paris Conservatory under Charles-Henri Plantade. He won the conservatory's first prize in singing in 1825 and that same year made his stage debut as Licinius in Spontini's La vestale
at the Paris Opera
. He sang primarily secondary tenor roles until the late 1830s when he increasingly gravitated to baritone roles. In 1845 he went to Brussels where he sang leading baritone roles including the title role of Nabucco
in its first performance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie
and went on to serve as the theatre's director from 1848 to 1849. During that period he also sang in London with the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden. In 1850 he returned to the Paris Opera and remained there as a principal baritone until his retirement from the stage in 1858. Massol died in Paris at the age of 85.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
and later baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
who sang in the world premieres of many French opera
French Opera
French opera is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen...
s.
Massol was born in Lodève
Lodève
Lodève is a commune in the Hérault département in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:...
and trained at the Paris Conservatory under Charles-Henri Plantade. He won the conservatory's first prize in singing in 1825 and that same year made his stage debut as Licinius in Spontini's La vestale
La vestale
La vestale is an opera composed by Gaspare Spontini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy. It was first performed at the Paris Opéra in Paris on December 15, 1807 and is regarded as Spontini's masterpiece...
at the Paris Opera
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
. He sang primarily secondary tenor roles until the late 1830s when he increasingly gravitated to baritone roles. In 1845 he went to Brussels where he sang leading baritone roles including the title role of Nabucco
Nabucco
Nabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
in its first performance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie
La Monnaie
Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....
and went on to serve as the theatre's director from 1848 to 1849. During that period he also sang in London with the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden. In 1850 he returned to the Paris Opera and remained there as a principal baritone until his retirement from the stage in 1858. Massol died in Paris at the age of 85.
Roles created
- Lorenzo (tenor) in La muette de PorticiLa muette de PorticiLa muette de Portici originally called Masaniello, ou La muette de Portici, is an opera in five acts by Daniel Auber, with a libretto by Germain Delavigne, revised by Eugène Scribe...
, 1828 - Second knight (tenor) in Le comte OryLe comte OryLe comte Ory is an opéra written by Gioachino Rossini in 1828. Some of the music originates from his opera Il viaggio a Reims written three years earlier for the coronation of Charles X...
, 1828 - Rodolphe (tenor) in Guillaume TellWilliam Tell (opera)Guillaume Tell is an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell. Based on the legend of William Tell, this opera was Rossini's last, even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years...
, 1829 - Herald (tenor) in Robert le diableRobert le diable (opera)Robert le diable is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, often regarded as the first grand opera. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Casimir Delavigne and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique, "Meyerbeer persuaded...
, 1831 - Christian (tenor) in Gustave III, 1833
- First drinker (tenor) in La JuiveLa JuiveLa Juive is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on February 23, 1835.-Composition history:...
, 1835 - Cossé (tenor) in Les HuguenotsLes HuguenotsLes Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
, 1836 - Quasimodo (tenor) in La EsmeraldaLa Esmeralda (opera)La Esmeralda is a grand opera in four acts composed by Louise Bertin. The libretto was written by Victor Hugo, who had adapted it from his novel Notre-Dame de Paris . The opera premiered at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on 14 November 1836 with Cornélie Falcon in the title role...
, 1836 - Michael (tenor) in StradellaStradella (opera)Stradella is a Grand Opera in five acts by Louis Niedermeyer to a libretto by Emile Deschamps and Emilien Pacini. Based on a highly romanticized version of the life of the composer Alessandro Stradella , it was premiered at the Paris Opéra on 3 March 1837.-Background:The storyline of the opera is...
, 1837 - Fortebraccio (tenor) in Guido et GinevraGuido et GinevraGuido et Ginevra, ou La Peste de Florence is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Eugène Scribe...
, 1838 - Fieramosca (baritone) in Benvenuto CelliniBenvenuto Cellini (opera)Benvenuto Cellini is an opera in two acts with music by Hector Berlioz and libretto by Léon de Wailly and Henri Auguste Barbier. It was the first of Berlioz's operas. The story is loosely based on the memoirs of the Florentine sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. The opera is technically very challenging...
, 1838 - Sévère (baritone) in Les Martyrs, 1840
- Bronzino (baritone) in Le comte de Carmagnola, 1841
- Mocénigo (baritone) in La reine de ChypreLa reine de ChypreLa reine de Chypre is an 1841 grand opera composed by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.-Background:...
, 1841 - L'Inconnu (baritone?) in Le guérilléro, 1842
- L'homme de la forêt du Mans (tenor) in Charles VICharles VI (opera)Charles VI is an 1843 French grand opera in five acts with music composed by Fromental Halevy and a libretto by Casimir Delavigne and his brother Germain Delavigne.-Performance history:...
, 1843 - Abayaldos (baritone) in Dom SébastienDom SébastienDom Sébastien, Roi de Portugal is a French grand opera in five acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe, based on Paul Foucher's play Don Sébastien de Portugal , a historic-fiction about King Sebastian of Portugal and his ill-fated 1578 expedition to Morocco...
, 1843 - Ruben (baritone) in L'enfant prodigueL'enfant prodigue (Auber)L'enfant prodigue is a grand opera in five acts composed by Daniel Auber to a French libretto by Eugène Scribe based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke. It was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Académie Nationale de Musique in Paris on 6 December 1850...
, 1850 - Ahasvérus (baritone) in Le Juif errantLe Juif errant (opera)Le Juif errant is a grand opera by Fromental Halévy, with a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.The opera is based extremely loosely on themes of the novel Le Juif errant, by Eugène Sue...
, 1852
Sources
- Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Massol". Almanacco Amadeus
- Kuhn, Laura (ed.) (2000). "Massol, Eugène Étienne Auguste", Baker's Dictionary of Opera, Schirmer Books, p. 499. ISBN 0028653491
- Meyerbeer, Giacomo (2001). The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer: 1840-1849, translated, edited and annotated by Robert Ignatius Letellier. Associated University Presse. ISBN 0838638430