Description

FERNAND FANIARD (FERNAND SMEETS) (SINT-JOOST-TEN-NODE, 9 DECEMBER, 1894– PARIS, 3 AUGUST, 1955)

 

 

 

 

He began his singing studies with the tenor Laurent Swolfs at the Music Academy in his native town, then continued at the Royal Music Academy in Brussels under the direction of Désiré Demest. Initially, he sang for a brief period as a second baritone at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels as well as in Ghent, together with another novice, the tenor André Burdino. After a while, his voice developed toward the tenor range, and he began studying tenor roles first with Éric Audouin and later with Tilkin-Servais (a distinguished artist at London’s Covent Garden).

Having developed an excellent tenor voice, he made his first appearance in 1926 at the French Opera of Antwerp in Samson et Dalila, Hérodiade, Boris Godunov (a French premiere), Le Roi d’Ys, and in the premiere of Jane. He was re-engaged the following year at the same theatre. He was then engaged by the Monte Carlo Opera for the seasons of 1928, 1929, and 1930. Here, he created the French versions of Salome (Herod) and Die Ägyptische Helena (Menelas), both operas by Richard Strauss. Under the management of Raoul Gunsbourg, he undertook principal roles in such operas as Samson et Dalila, La Damnation de Faust, Die Walküre, and Boris Godunov (as Dimitri), partnered by Vanni-Marcoux and Feodor Chaliapin in the seasons of 1933 and 1937.

Following these achievements, he was engaged by Jacques Rouché, Director of the Paris Opéra. Fernand Faniard made his first appearance at the Palais Garnier on 24 May 1930 as Samson, together with Laure Tessandra (Dalila) in the Saint-Saëns opera. He remained at the house during the seasons of 1931, 1932, 1933, 1937 and 1942, where, in addition to interpreting Samson, he sang Jean in Hérodiade, Éléazar in La Juive, Siegmund in Die Walküre, and the title roles in Tristan, Tannhäuser, and Lohengrin (with Martial Singher), achieving resounding triumphs in this repertoire. In 1942, together with José De Trevi and José Beckmans, he appeared in the French version of Hans Pfitzner’s Palestrina as Cardinal Bernardo Novagiero.

In 1949, 1950, and 1951, under the direction of Georges Hirsch, he gave many performances of Lohengrin and Tristan with Suzanne Juyol, René Bianco, and Pierre Froumenty, all under the musical direction of Georges Sebastian. He appeared in many major French houses, among them Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Lille, Nice, Amiens, Vichy, Rouen, Nantes, and others. In Algeria he appeared in Algiers and Oran, where he had memorable successes as Éléazar in La Juive and Jean in Hérodiade, all to enthusiastic sold-out audiences. He sang in Casablanca, and in Belgium at Ghent, Namur, Liège and Verviers, and in Switzerland at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. He also performed at the Grand Théâtre of Bordeaux, where he was partnered by the famous Bayreuth soprano Germaine Lubin (Tristan) and by André Pernet in La Damnation de Faust.

In 1931, he sang at the Opera of Luxembourg, presenting Samson et Dalila. As a guest star at the Flemish Opera in Antwerp, he sang in many Wagner operas (in German), including Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Die Walküre, Tannhäuser and Parsifal. He returned to this house in 1942 and 1943, repeating many of these roles, but this time sung in Dutch. He was engaged for Wagner operas at the Frankfurt Opera in 1933, but the contract was voided. Because of the political situation, possible appearances at Bayreuth were cancelled.

In 1937, he sang at the Teatro Reale di Parma in Italy in an Italian-language performance of Lohengrin. Apparently, the public described his singing as “too academic”. During the same year, he gave exceptional performances celebrating the bicentennial of the Capitole de Toulouse in La Damnation de Faust with Ninon Vallin (Marguerite) and Vanni-Marcoux (Mephistopheles). On 4 and 6 March 1938, in the midst of the Spanish Civil War and despite air-raid warnings, he sang Samson at the Liceu in Barcelona with Lucienne Anduran as Dalila. The declaration of war in 1939 ended planned engagements at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Like many singers from occupied countries, Fernand Faniard was compelled to pursue his career only in France and Belgium.

During April and May 1951, he sang the part of the Cardinal of Mainz in Strasbourg’s French premiere of Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler (Mathis the Painter). Other principal artists included Rita Gorr, Andine Yosif and Roger Barsac, all under the direction of Ernest Bour. An accomplished concert artist, Fernand Faniard made prominent appearances in concerts and recitals for associations such as Colonne, Pasdeloup and Poulet-Siohan. He sang frequently at the conservatories of Brussels, Tournai, Charleroi, Metz, Valenciennes, and in concerts in Angers, Brest, and at the Kursaal in Ostend.

Between 1935 and 1940, his voice was heard on many broadcasting stations in France (Poste Parisien, Radio Tour-Eiffel, Radio-Paris with the French National Orchestra conducted by Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht). He was also heard from the French and Flemish institutes of Belgium and Radio-Luxembourg. After the Second World War, in 1949, he obtained French nationality and as a new citizen was heard on French National Radio with Suzanne Juyol in many programs produced by Roland-Manuel called Les Plaisirs de la Musique. These were often devoted to Wagnerian works, excerpts and scenes from Tristan und Isolde and Siegfried. He could also be heard in Geneviève de Paris (Marcel Mirouze, 1950) and Albéric Magnard’s Guercœur (1951). Also of considerable interest was an unabridged version of L’attaque du moulin by Alfred Bruneau, given on 9 November 1952 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Émile Zola. These last two works were preserved by the French Audiovisual Institute.

On the same radio station, as he had done in 1938 at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, he performed Schumann’s complete Dichterliebe, accompanied by the French composer Pierre Capdevielle. In 1951, he also gave recitals of melodies by Fauré, Duparc, Saint-Saëns, Debussy and Chausson on Radio Stuttgart and Radio Frankfurt.

He was forced to end his career in 1953 because of a major illness, and he died in Paris on 3 August 1955.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

Radio Stuttgart, 6 December 1951, piano: Heinrich Baumgartner

Clair de lune (Fauré)

Fleur jetée (Fauré)

Chanson triste (Duparc)

Le manoir de Rosemonde (Duparc)

Tendresse (Bachelet)

La chanson des trois roses (Bachelet)

Sabre en main (Saint-Saëns)

Beau soir (Debussy)

Mandolines (Debussy)

La caravane (Chausson)

 

Private discs, recorded at Studio Technisonor Paris, October 1950, piano: Pierre Capdeville

Schwanengesang (Schubert): Der Doppelgänger

Dichterliebe (Schumann):

Im wunderschönen Monat Mai

Aus meinen Tränen sprießen

Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne

Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’

Im Rhein, im schönen Strome

Ich grolle nicht

Und wüssten’s die Blumen, die kleinen

Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen

Ich hab’ im Traum geweinet

Die alten, bösen Lieder

 

Radio recordings:

Radio Algiers, 18 August 1949, w orchestra conducted by Roger Ellis

Zémire et Azor (Grétry): Ah! quel tourments

Alceste (Gluck): Bannis les craintes et les alarmes

 

Radio Strasbourg, 1950, w orchestra

Prometheus (Wolf), French translation by Fernand Faniard

Ritter Kurts Brautfahrt (Wolf), French translation and orchestration by Fernand Faniard

 

Polydor
Witte Rosen (Tummers – E. Paoli) 512. 674

Je dent te mooi om trouw te zijn (H. Otten – Rido) 512. 674