Agustarello Affre

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Tomb of Affre

Agustarello Affre (23 October 1858 - 27 December 1931) was a French operatic tenor. He possessed a powerful, firm and exceptionally beautiful voice which garnered him the nickname the "French Tamagno" in comparison to the great Italian tenor. He was one of the leading operatic tenors in Paris from 1890 to 1911. He spent the last years of his career singing and directing operas in the United States. After World War I, he lived in retirement in France.

Life and career

Born Auguste Affre in

Le mage
in 1891.

Outside of Paris, Affre appeared as a guest artist at the

Samson et Dalila and in the title role of Gounod's Faust. He recorded extensively for Pathé, including the roles of Don José in Georges Bizet's Carmen (1911) and Roméo in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (1912) in the company's "Le Théâtre chez soi" ("Your Theater at Home") full-length opera and drama series. In 1911 he moved to the United States where he was heard in operas in New Orleans, San Francisco, and in Havana. He became director of the French Opera House in New Orleans in 1913 when it came under the ownership of Tulane University, remaining there until 1915. He died in Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1931 at the age of 73.[1] He is buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.[2]

In contemporary sources, including those written by the tenor himself, his stage name is spelled "Gustarello". The spelling "Agustarello" appears only posthumously, and is presumably an error. In contemporary reviews, on record labels and in the tenor's own spoken introductions to many of his sound recordings, he is simply "Monsieur Affre".

References

  1. ^ a b c Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Agustarello Affré". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  2. ^ "Agustarello Affré at operissimo.com". Archived from the original on 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  • Jean-Pierre Mouchon, " Agustarello Affre" in "Étude" n°18, April–June 2002 (Association internationale de chant lyrique TITTA RUFFO. Site:titta-ruffo-international.jimdo.com).
  • Klaus Ulrich Spiegel: "Ténor juvénil-dramatique français - Agustarello Affre: Star der Grand-Opéra im Fin-de-siècle - HAfG Edition Hamburg 2015
  • https://www.affre.org
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