Description

CAMILLE FRANÇOIS CASSET (PARIS, 30 JULY, 1861 – AFTER 1937)

 

 

 

 

Casset made his career as a dramatic and heroic tenor, with a repertoire centered on some of the most demanding roles of the French and German operatic traditions. His documented appearances began at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, where during the 1894–95 season he sang Sigmar in L’Enfance de Roland, the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin, and Jean in Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète. In the following season (1895–96), he appeared as Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio and as Samson in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila. He returned to Lohengrin at La Monnaie during the 1897–98 season.

Casset subsequently established himself in Paris, where his documented operatic debut at the Paris Opéra took place on 15 August 1902, when he sang the role of Samson in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila. In 1903 he appeared there in several major heroic roles, including the title role of Wagner’s Lohengrin, Tannhäuser in Tannhäuser, and the title role of Reyer’s Sigurd. These engagements demonstrate the nature of his repertoire: powerful tenor parts requiring considerable vocal stamina and dramatic projection, particularly in the works of Wagner and the French grand-opera tradition.

His documented career thus connects the operatic stages of Brussels and Paris, and places him among the tenors of his generation who specialized in the demanding dramatic repertoire of Wagnerian opera and French heroic opera.

 

 

VICTOR VERTENEUIL (LA BOUVERIE, 1895 – BRUSSELS, 1973)

 

 

 

 

He studied at the Mons Conservatory with Tondeur (1912–1914, as a baritone) and Houx (1921–1922, as a tenor). He also took singing lessons with Melchissédec.

From 1925 to 1930, he was a principal tenor at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. During these years, he appeared there, among other productions, in the Belgian premières of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot (1926) and Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos (1930). His repertoire included such roles as Samson in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila, Jean in Massenet’s Hérodiade, Don José in Carmen, Radamès in Aida, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, Canio in Pagliacci, and Cavaradossi in Tosca. He also appeared in operas by Richard Wagner.

From 1930 to 1935, Verteneuil appeared as a guest at several French opera houses, including those in Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, and Mulhouse in Alsace, as well as in North Africa. At the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, he sang the role of Pedro in the première there of Eugen d’Albert’s Tiefland.

In 1935, he returned to the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, where he sang with great success until 1942. From 1942 to 1962, he worked in Brussels as a vocal teacher.

 

 

 

MAURICE WEYNANDT (SINT-JOOST-TEN-NOODE, 9 APRIL, 1892 – BRUSSELS, 13 JUNE 1961)

 

 

 

 

He was active principally in Brussels as a concert and oratorio singer and was associated with the musical life of the city during the interwar period. In 1921 he appeared as tenor in the Concerts populaires at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, performing in a Belgian concert conducted by Frans Ruhlmann, with the pianist Arthur de Greef.

Weynandt subsequently became an important figure in Belgian musical education. He was a professor of singing at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and also served as choirmaster of the Concerts spirituels and of the Conservatory. Among the musicians who studied singing with him was the Belgian composer and tenor Gaston Feremans.

He continued to appear as a concert singer during the 1920s; his participation in radio concerts is documented as early as 1924, when he was announced as tenor in a Brussels broadcast. His name also survives on recordings and historical anthologies of Belgian vocal music, including performances with the orchestra of the Théâtre de la Monnaie.

Although better remembered today as a teacher and choral conductor than as an operatic tenor, he played a significant role in Brussels’ musical life and in the training of a younger generation of Belgian singers and musicians.

 

 

PAUL ROUFFART

 

 

 

Rouffart built an extensive repertory at the Monnaie, appearing there in both French and Italian opera as well as in major Wagnerian roles. His recorded activity at the theatre extends from 1941 to 1955. Among his earliest documented appearances was Egisth in Richard Strauss’s Elektra (1941–52), a role he performed 12 times. He also appeared in Jules Massenet’s Hérodiade as Jean le Baptiste (1942–53; 33 performances), and in Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana as Turiddu (1945–54; 47 performances), one of his most frequently performed roles.

His Monnaie repertory included several important French tenor parts: Faust in Gounod’s Faust (1945–53; 27 performances), Don Gomez in Saint-Saëns’s Henry VIII (1945–53; 11 performances), and Samson in Samson et Dalila (1944–53; 25 performances). He also sang Canio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (1946–47; 4 performances) and Dominique in Alfred Bruneau’s L’Attaque du moulin (1946–47; 5 performances).

Rouffart was particularly active in the demanding Wagnerian repertory. At the Monnaie he sang Tannhäuser (1947–48; 14 performances), Lohengrin (1948–49; 12 performances), Siegfried in Siegfried (1950–51; 5 performances), and later undertook the title role of Verdi’s Otello (1945–55; 8 performances). His repertory also included the title role of Otello, the Burgomaster in Richard Strauss’s Friedenstag (1948–50; 8 performances), and Porcus in Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher (1952–54; 14 performances).

In addition to Brussels, Rouffart appeared at the Verviers Opera, where he performed in Massenet’s Hérodiade during the 1941–46 period.

The surviving performance records indicate that Paul Rouffart was a versatile and substantial tenor of the Belgian operatic stage, equally at home in French grand opera, Italian verismo and the heroic Wagnerian repertory. His long association with the Monnaie and his unusually broad repertory made him an important singer of the Brussels opera scene in the years immediately following the Second World War.

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Camille Casset Lohengrin (Wagner) Aux bords lointains 290F Lyrophon Paris 1908

Victor Verteneuil Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) O Lola Sicilienne S402 15290 Samaritaine

Victor Verteneuil Hérodiade (Massenet) Air de Jean E 50006 15292 Utraphon

Victor Verteneuil Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Vesti la giubba S403 Samaritaine

Maurice Weynandt Le roi d’Ys (Lalo) Vainement, ma bien aimée 1292 C5107 Chantal De Luxe, Gent, about 1920

Maurice Weynandt Manon (Massenet) En fermant les yeux 1292 C5094 Chantal De Luxe, Gent, about 1920

Paul Rouffart Die Walküre (Wagner) Plus d’hiver Private record

Paul Rouffart Le Cid (Massenet) Ô souverain Private record