Joseph Rouleau
Encyclopedia
Joseph A. Rouleau, is a French-Canadian bass
opera singer, particularly associated with the Italian and French repertories.
He studied privately with Édouard Woolley
and Albert Cornellier in Montreal
, and at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal with Martial Singher
. He went to Milan
, Italy, for complementary studies with Mario Basiola and Antonio Narducci. He sang small roles with the Opéra national du Québec, but his real debut was as Colline in La bohème
, in New Orleans Opera
, in 1955. He made his Opera Guild of Montreal debut as Philip II in Don Carlos
(one of his greatest roles) in 1956. He also appeared in concert and on Canadian radio and television.
Engaged by the Royal Opera House
in London, Rouleau sang with the company in Cardiff, Manchester, and Southampton prior to his London debut as Colline on 23 Apr 1957. Leading roles followed in over 40 productions there during the next 20 years. His Count Rodolfo in Bellini
's La Sonnambula
in 1960 with Joan Sutherland
, led to a collaboration with the soprano which included his debut at the Paris Opéra
that year as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor
and a 1965-6 Australian tour during which he won high praise particularly for his Assur in Rossini's Semiramide
.
A consummate actor and musician, Rouleau sang a wide range of roles, he expanded his repertoire to include German and Russian roles, notably Titurel in Parsifal
, and the lead in Boris Godunov
. He also won considerable acclaim as Don Quichotte
, and Mephistofeles in Faust
. In 1976, he participated for the BBC
, in a performance of the complete French version of Don Carlos, singing Philippe II.
He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera
on April 13, 1984,
as the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, under James Levine
. Since 1987 he has appeared in concerts and recitals with accompianist Pierre Brabant
. Many of their recitals together have been devoted to the music of Félix Leclerc
.
In 1977, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
, and was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2010. In 1999, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec
was promoted to Grand Officer in 2004. In 1990, he was awarded the Prix Denise-Pelletier
award of the Prix du Québec
.
He was also active as a teacher at the Université du Québec à Montréal
, where he founded an opera workshop, in collaboration with soprano Colette Boky
.
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
opera singer, particularly associated with the Italian and French repertories.
He studied privately with Édouard Woolley
Édouard Woolley
Édouard Joseph Woolley was a Canadian tenor, actor, composer, and music educator of Haitian birth. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1958. His compositional output includes masses for three voices and for four voices, a few songs, and some instrumental pieces...
and Albert Cornellier in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal with Martial Singher
Martial Singher
Martial Singher was a French baritone opera singer born in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques.Initially singing only as a hobby, he was encouraged by then French education minister Édouard Herriot to pursue singing professionally...
. He went to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy, for complementary studies with Mario Basiola and Antonio Narducci. He sang small roles with the Opéra national du Québec, but his real debut was as Colline in La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, in New Orleans Opera
New Orleans Opera
Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and for the majority of the city's history since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to...
, in 1955. He made his Opera Guild of Montreal debut as Philip II in Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
(one of his greatest roles) in 1956. He also appeared in concert and on Canadian radio and television.
Engaged by the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in London, Rouleau sang with the company in Cardiff, Manchester, and Southampton prior to his London debut as Colline on 23 Apr 1957. Leading roles followed in over 40 productions there during the next 20 years. His Count Rodolfo in Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's La Sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
in 1960 with Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
, led to a collaboration with the soprano which included his debut at the Paris Opéra
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
that year as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
and a 1965-6 Australian tour during which he won high praise particularly for his Assur in Rossini's Semiramide
Semiramide
Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon...
.
A consummate actor and musician, Rouleau sang a wide range of roles, he expanded his repertoire to include German and Russian roles, notably Titurel in Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, and the lead in Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov (opera)
Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...
. He also won considerable acclaim as Don Quichotte
Don Quichotte
Don Quichotte is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn.Massenet's comédie-héroïque, like so many other dramatized versions of the story of Don Quixote, relates only indirectly to the great novel by Miguel de Cervantes...
, and Mephistofeles in Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
. In 1976, he participated for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, in a performance of the complete French version of Don Carlos, singing Philippe II.
He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
on April 13, 1984,
as the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, under James Levine
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
. Since 1987 he has appeared in concerts and recitals with accompianist Pierre Brabant
Pierre Brabant
Pierre Brabant is a Canadian composer and pianist. He has appeared in concerts and recitals throughout Canada and performed numerous times on Canadian television and radio...
. Many of their recitals together have been devoted to the music of Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc, was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968...
.
In 1977, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, and was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2010. In 1999, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec
National Order of Quebec
The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as l'Ordre national du Québec, and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec...
was promoted to Grand Officer in 2004. In 1990, he was awarded the Prix Denise-Pelletier
Prix Denise-Pelletier
The Prix Denise-Pelletier is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, given to individuals for an outstanding career in the performing arts. It is awarded to a creator, performer, stage-craftsman or person who has made a noteworthy contribution in the fields of song,...
award of the Prix du Québec
Prix du Québec
The Prix du Québec are awards given by the Government of Quebec to individuals for cultural and scientific achievements. Founded in 1977, the government annually awards six awards in the cultural field and five in the scientific field.- Cultural awards :...
.
He was also active as a teacher at the Université du Québec à Montréal
Université du Québec à Montréal
The Université du Québec à Montréal is one of four universities in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Basic facts:The UQAM is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québec , a public university system with other branches in Gatineau , Rimouski, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec City, Chicoutimi, and...
, where he founded an opera workshop, in collaboration with soprano Colette Boky
Colette Boky
Colette Boky is a French-Canadian operatic soprano, particularly associated with lyric roles in the French, Italian, and German repertories.- Life and career :...
.
Selective recordings
- Semiramide - Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Joseph Rouleau, John Serge, Spiro Malas - Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge - DECCA (1965)
- Don Carlos - Edith Tremblay, Michèle Vilma, André Turp, Robert Savoie, Joseph Rouleau, Richard Van Allan - BBC Orchestra and Chorus, John Matheson - PONTO (1975)
Sources
- The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, Gilles Bryant, Florence Hayes, Gilles Potvin
External links
- Joseph Rouleau at The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...