Description

PAUL DUFAULT, BORN EUSÈBE PANTALÉON CYPRIEN WILBROD DUFAULT (SAINTE-HÉLÈNE-DE-BAGOT, QUEBEC, 10 DECEMBER 1872 – SAINTE-HÉLÈNE-DE-BAGOT, QUEBEC, 20 JUNE, 1930)

 

 

 

 

He studied at the Séminaire de Nicolet and received his early musical training in Montreal with Mr. Birtz, later continuing his studies in Boston with Mr. Dobson and in Worcester, Massachusetts, with Mrs. Petersen. He subsequently studied with Hector Dupeyron of the Paris Opéra and is known to have been active professionally by 1897.

In 1903, he appeared with the Société symphonique de Québec (Quebec Symphony Orchestra). The concert program noted that he had been living in New York “for many years,” where he gave numerous concerts and church performances. Apart from occasional appearances in oratorio, his career was devoted almost entirely to concert singing. He should not be confused with the French dramatic tenor Jean Dufault, who performed with Hammerstein’s Manhattan Opera.

At the height of his career (c. 1906–1921), Paul Dufault enjoyed considerable international success, touring extensively throughout North America as well as Australia (which he visited three times), China, and Japan. During the same period, he also toured Quebec almost every year, giving recitals in smaller towns and villages that rarely had access to professional concert performances. In 1921, he undertook a concert tour across Canada.

His recital programs consisted almost exclusively of French operatic arias and French and English songs, particularly works by Théodore Botrel, Charles Gounod, Henri Goublier, and Francesco Paolo Tosti. These were ideally suited to his warm lyric tenor voice, although its range was somewhat limited. Reviewing one of his New York recitals in 1911, The New York Times wrote: “Mr. Dufault has very considerable attainments in the management of a not wholly tractable organ, in the matters of diction, style, phrasing, and interpretation, which are much to his credit.”

His relatively specialized but highly polished repertoire is well documented through recordings made between about 1911 and 1921 for Columbia, Edison, Victor, and Starr. He can also be heard on Great Voices of Canada / Les Grandes voix du Canada (Analekta AN2 7801 and AN2 7803, 1993). In recognition of his contribution to Canadian musical life, a street in Montreal’s Rivière-des-Prairies district was named in his honor in 1972.

 

TRACKLIST

 

Amadis de Gaule (Lully) Bois épais 74011 7563 Edison, New York

Boat song (Ware) A2050 46646-1 Columbia, New York 1916-03-17

Chanson de la glu (Gounod) 74009 7556 Edison, New York

Chanson de l’adieu (Tosti) 74007 7561 Edison, New York

Cid (Massenet) Prière E5118 37407-1 Columbia, New York 1915-09-30

En passant par la Lorraine (arr Tiersot) 74010 7559 Edison, New York

Fille de Madame Angot (Lecocq) Elle est tellement innocente E836 19412-1 Columbia, New York 1911-06-15

J’ai pleuré en rêve (Hill) E835 19415-1 Columbia, New York 1911-06-15

Land of the long ago (Ray) A2050 46647-1 Columbia, New York 1916-03-17

L’anneau d’argent (Chaminade) 74009 7554 Edison, New York

Les trois gosses (Missa) 74011 7566 Edison, New York

Ma vigne et ma mie (Cuvillier) 74007 7560 Edison, New York

Mignon (Thomas) Elle ne croyait pas E5118 37408-1 Columbia, New York 1915-09-30

Nuit d’été E2640 46078-1 Columbia, New York 1915-10-02

Obstination (de Fontenailles) E835 19445-1 Columbia, New York 1911-07-07

Si je vous parlais de ma peine (de Fontenailles) 74010 7557 Edison, New York

Song of the heart E2640 46068-2 Columbia, New York 1915-09-30

Vivandière (Godard) Couplets de Marion E836 19416-1 Columbia, New York 1911-06-15