Pierre Duval
Encyclopedia
Pierre Duval is a French-Canadian operatic tenor
who had an active international career during the 1960s and 1970s. Possessing a warm lyrical voice with a considerable amount of flexibility and stamina, Duval sang mostly roles from the standard French and Italian repertories. He particularly excelled in bel canto
works, notably singing opposite such lauded bel canto interpreters as Joan Sutherland
, Beverly Sills
, and Montserrat Caballé
during his career.
, Québec
, where he took voice lessons with Frank Rowe. He then studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal with Dina Maria Narici. While there he began performing on Canadian radio and television. In 1960 he made his professional opera debut at the Opéra de Montréal
in the title role of Charles Gounod
's Faust
.
In 1961 Duval left for Italy to study on a scholarship at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
in Rome under Alberto Volonnino. The following year he made his European debut as the Fisherman in Igor Stravinsky
's Le Rossignol at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
to great acclaim. He performed regularly in leading roles at the Rome Opera house for the next several years. In 1962 he made a number of appearances in opera houses in Spain and in 1963 he made his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as the Italian singer in Richard Strauss
's Capriccio
.
Duval had a major triumph in 1963, drawing international recognition for his lauded recording of the role of Arturo in Bellini
's I puritani
, opposite Joan Sutherland
, after replacing Franco Corelli
as a last minute substitute. In 1964 he made his United States debut with the New York City Opera
as Faust. He sang several more time with the NYCO during his career, including portraying Rinuccio in Giacomo Puccini
's Gianni Schicchi
(1965), Le Chevalier des Grieux in Jules Massenet
's Manon
(1969), the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto
(1969), and Arturo to Beverly
's Elvira in Vincenzo Bellini
's I Puritani
(1974–1975) among others. He also made several appearances at the Pittsburgh Opera
during the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1967 Duval made his debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
as Elvino in Bellini's La sonnambula
with Renata Scotto
as Amina. He returned to that house the following season to perform Arturo to the Elvira of Anna Moffo
. In 1969 he made his first appearance with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
as Edgardo in Gaetano Donizetti
's Lucia di Lammermoor
with Roberta Peters
in the title role. He returned to portray the Duke of Mantua opposite Carlo Meliciani
's Rigoletto at the PGOC the following season. In 1970 Duval sang at the Connecticut Opera
and in 1971 he made his debut with the New Orleans Opera
as Nadir in Georges Bizet
's Les pêcheurs de perles
. He returned to New Orleans several more time, including portraying the title hero in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette
(1972).
In his home country, Duval was a regular performer at the L'Opéra de Québec between 1967 and 1970. He also performed roles with the Théâtre de Nouvell-France, the Canadian Opera Company
, the Vancouver Opera
, and Opera Ottawa in the standard French and Italian repertories. He also performed as a soloist with several orchestras throughout Canada and the United States. He notably took part in a number of CBC opera telecasts, including portraying Macduff in Macbeth
, in 1973, opposite Louis Quilico
and Marisa Galvany
.
Duval was also active on the international stage during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1966 he performed the role of Alfredo in La traviata
at the Municipal Theater of Santiago
in Chile. In 1969 he sang the role of Leicester in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux
at the Liceu
with Montserrat Caballé
as Elisabetta. In 1973 he had a triumphant performance at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
in the role of Arturo.
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...
who had an active international career during the 1960s and 1970s. Possessing a warm lyrical voice with a considerable amount of flexibility and stamina, Duval sang mostly roles from the standard French and Italian repertories. He particularly excelled in bel canto
Bel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
works, notably singing opposite such lauded bel canto interpreters as 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....
, Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
, and Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
during his career.
Biography
Pierre Duval (stage name) was born Ovide Coutu, in MontréalMontreal
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...
, Québec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, where he took voice lessons with Frank Rowe. He then studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal with Dina Maria Narici. While there he began performing on Canadian radio and television. In 1960 he made his professional opera debut at the Opéra de Montréal
Opéra de Montréal
Opéra de Montréal is an opera company in Montreal. It performs at the Place des Arts theatre complex in downtown Montreal, in the borough of Ville-Marie. It was founded in 1980...
in the title role of Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's 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 1961 Duval left for Italy to study on a scholarship at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, based in Italy.It is based at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, and was founded by the papal bull, Ratione congruit, issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western...
in Rome under Alberto Volonnino. The following year he made his European debut as the Fisherman in Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's Le Rossignol at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements...
to great acclaim. He performed regularly in leading roles at the Rome Opera house for the next several years. In 1962 he made a number of appearances in opera houses in Spain and in 1963 he made his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as the Italian singer in Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Capriccio
Capriccio (opera)
Capriccio is the final opera by German composer Richard Strauss, subtitled "A Conversation Piece for Music". The opera received its premiere performance at the Nationaltheater München on October 28, 1942. Clemens Krauss and Strauss himself wrote the German libretto...
.
Duval had a major triumph in 1963, drawing international recognition for his lauded recording of the role of Arturo 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 I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
, opposite 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....
, after replacing Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli was a famous Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976. Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory, he was celebrated universally for his powerhouse voice, electrifying top notes, clear timbre, a...
as a last minute substitute. In 1964 he made his United States debut with the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
as Faust. He sang several more time with the NYCO during his career, including portraying Rinuccio in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico —three one-act operas with...
(1965), Le Chevalier des Grieux in Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
(1969), the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
(1969), and Arturo to Beverly
Beverly
Beverly or Beverley was a surname deriving from a place name meaning "beaver stream" in Old English which is now more commonly a female name...
's Elvira in Vincenzo 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 I Puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
(1974–1975) among others. He also made several appearances at the Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the...
during the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1967 Duval made his debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius...
as Elvino in Bellini'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...
with Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...
as Amina. He returned to that house the following season to perform Arturo to the Elvira of Anna Moffo
Anna Moffo
Anna Moffo was an Italian-American opera singer and one of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation...
. In 1969 he made his first appearance with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
Philadelphia Grand Opera Company
The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic...
as Edgardo in Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's 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....
with Roberta Peters
Roberta Peters
Roberta Peters is an American coloratura soprano.One of the most prominent American singers to achieve lasting fame and success in opera, Peters is noted for her 35-year association with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York...
in the title role. He returned to portray the Duke of Mantua opposite Carlo Meliciani
Carlo Meliciani
Carlo Meliciani is an Italian operatic baritone who had an active international career from the mid 1950s through the late 1970s. From 1959-1979 he was on the roster of singers at La Scala in Milan. Although he sang a wide repertoire, he was particularly known for his portrayal of roles from the...
's Rigoletto at the PGOC the following season. In 1970 Duval sang at the Connecticut Opera
Connecticut Opera
Connecticut Opera was a professional, non-profit, opera company based in Hartford, Connecticut, and a member of OPERA America. The company presented three fully staged opera productions during an annual season. It was founded in 1942 under the directorship of Frank Pandolfi and was the sixth oldest...
and in 1971 he made his debut with the 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...
as Nadir in Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's Les pêcheurs de perles
Les pêcheurs de perles
Les pêcheurs de perles is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was first performed on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run...
. He returned to New Orleans several more time, including portraying the title hero in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
(1972).
In his home country, Duval was a regular performer at the L'Opéra de Québec between 1967 and 1970. He also performed roles with the Théâtre de Nouvell-France, the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
, the Vancouver Opera
Vancouver Opera
Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada.It performs in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre accompanied currently by the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, one of two specialized opera orchestras in Canada...
, and Opera Ottawa in the standard French and Italian repertories. He also performed as a soloist with several orchestras throughout Canada and the United States. He notably took part in a number of CBC opera telecasts, including portraying Macduff in Macbeth
Macbeth (opera)
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name...
, in 1973, opposite Louis Quilico
Louis Quilico
Louis Quilico, CC was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often referred to as "Mr Rigoletto" in reference to the Verdi opera...
and Marisa Galvany
Marisa Galvany
Marisa Galvany is an American soprano who had an active international career performing in operas and concerts up into the early 2000s. Known for the great intensity of her performances, Galvany particularly excelled in portraying Verdi heroines...
.
Duval was also active on the international stage during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1966 he performed the role of Alfredo in La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
at the Municipal Theater of Santiago
Municipal Theater of Santiago
The Teatro Municipal is the most important stage theatre and opera house in Santiago, Chile.-History and overview:The Chilean government ceded a significant parcel of land in downtown Santiago to the municipality, in 1848, and an 1853 decree by President Manuel Montt Torres provided for the...
in Chile. In 1969 he sang the role of Leicester in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti...
at the Liceu
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
with Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
as Elisabetta. In 1973 he had a triumphant performance at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
in the role of Arturo.
Recordings
Vincenzo BelliniVincenzo 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...
- I PuritaniI puritaniI puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
— Joan SutherlandJoan SutherlandDame 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....
(Elvira), Margreta ElkinsMargreta ElkinsMargreta Elkins AM was an Australian mezzo-soprano of great renown. She sang at Covent Garden and with Opera Australia and other companies, but turned down offers to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, Bayreuth and Glyndebourne...
(Enrichetta di Francia), Pierre Duval (Arturo Talbot); Piero de PalmaPiero de PalmaPiero de Palma is an Italian operatic tenor, particularly associated with comprimario roles.After choral and concert work he began his operatic repertoire career relatively late in life in 1948 by singing on Italian radio and made his stage debut in 1952 at the San Carlo in Naples, where he was...
(Sir Bruno Robertson), Renato CapecchiRenato CapecchiRenato Capecchi was an Italian baritone, actor, and opera director.He sang in the Italian premiere of Shostakovich's The Nose and Prokofiev's War and Peace, and in the world premieres of Gian Francesco Malipiero's La donna è mobile, Giorgio Federico Ghedini's Billy Budd and Lord Inferno, and...
(Sir Riccardo Forth), Ezio FlagelloEzio FlagelloEzio Flagello was an Italian-American bass, particularly associated with the Italian repertory. He sang at the Metropolitan Opera from 1957 to 1984.- Career :...
(Sir Giorgio), Giovanni Fioiani (Lord Gualtiero Valton), Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale FiorentinoMaggio Musicale FiorentinoMaggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...
, Richard BonyngeRichard BonyngeRichard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
(conductor) - recorded 1963 – Decca 448 969-2 / Decca 467 789-2 (part of a 10-CD set) / London POCL 3965-7
Sourcess
- The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, Suzanne Thomas.
- Duval, Pierre Biography at operissimo.com
External links
- Pierre Duval 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,...