Description

DÉSIRÉ PAUWELS (GENT, 22 MAY, 1861 – AMSTERDAM, 25 JANUARY, 1942)

 

 

 

 

He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent under E. De Vos and Ch. Mirij. He subsequently became a member of the Dutch Opera Company, making his debut in Verdi’s Il trovatore in Amsterdam in 1887. He achieved considerable success there and performed, among other works, in the Dutch premieres of Wagner’s Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, and Rienzi, as well as Kienzl’s Der Evangelimann and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.

When the Dutch Opera Company closed in 1903, he sang during the 1904–05 season at the Théâtre de la Haye in The Hague. He subsequently made guest appearances in Berlin, Budapest, Geneva, Antwerp, and Brussels. However, Pauwels soon abandoned his stage career and became director of the Rembrandt Theatre in Amsterdam, a position he held only briefly. He also appeared in several operas at the theatre.

He later settled in Amsterdam, where he worked as a singing teacher and, among other pupils, discovered the voice of Louis Morrison. His wife, Sophie van Biene, was a respected Dutch actress, while his son, François Pauwels, became a well-known lawyer and author.

 

 

 

JULES GODART (QUAREGON, 2 DECEMBER, 1877 – LE VÉSINET, 22 OCTOBER, 1909)

 

 

 

 

His real name was Jules Godarder. He was a pupil of Désiré Demest at the Conservatoire de Bruxelles. In 1905, he made his debut at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Until 1908, he enjoyed considerable success there and at other Belgian opera houses, including those in Ghent and Liège, particularly in the operas of Richard Wagner.

In 1908, he appeared for the first time at the Grand Opéra in Paris, where he sang the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin. He subsequently performed the role of Samson in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila, and in the same year replaced Ernest van Dyck as Siegfried in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. In 1909, he became a regular member of the Grand Opéra.

That year, he achieved great success in Gounod’s Faust. On 23 December 1909, however, he died suddenly from poisoning. His death occurred under mysterious circumstances, which were never completely clarified.

 

 

CHARLES RONDELET

 

 

 

He was a house tenor in Liège in the late 1920s, and closely connected to that city; he was also one of the first classical singers to record songs in Walloon dialect (which is so incomprehensible that other French speakers need a translation). But Rondelet also sang in France (he was a member of the intertwined opera theaters of Arras, Cambrai, Denain, Saint-Amand, Caen, Lisieux and Bayeux at least in the 1923/24 season, but probably already before that). In January 1932, he participated in a radio concert in Montréal, featuring only music related to Liège.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Désiré Pauwels Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Klaaglied 92070 928B G&T, Amsterdam 1901-09
2. Désiré Pauwels Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) Siciliana 92069 927B G&T, Amsterdam 1901-09
3. Jules Godart Die Walküre (Wagner) Liebeslied (Siegmund) Plus d’hiver 97131 xP 4424
4. Jules Godart Tannhäuser (Wagner) Reine d’amour, à toi mes chants d’ivresse with Amelia Talexis 97132 xP 4427
5. Charles Rondelet Boheme (Puccini) Que cette main est froide Parlophone P 61503-I
6. Charles Rondelet Aida (Verdi) Céleste Aïda Parlophone P 61503- II
7. Charles Rondelet Paillasse (Leoncavallo) Me grimer Parlophone B 17403-II
8. Charles Rondelet Rigoletto (Verdi) la donna e mobile Parlophone B 17404-I