David Devriès

David Devriès (born February 14, 1881 in Bagnères-de-Luchon, France, died July 17, 1936 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) was a French operatic lyric tenor noted for his light, heady tone, and polished, nuanced phrasing. ^[1]^[2] He represents a light nineteenth-century style of French operatic singing that was lost by the early twentieth-century. He was born into a family of singers that included the soprano Rosa Devriès-Van-Os (1828-1889) and the baritones Hermann Devriès (1858-1949) and Maurice Devriès (1854-1919). He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and débuted at the Opéra-Comique in the role of Gérald in Delibes’s Lakmé, where he regularly performed throughout his career. His repertoire included Almaviva, Don José, Toinet in Le chemineau, Clément in La Basoche, Armand in Massenet's Thérèse, Alfredo, Jean in Sapho, Rabaud's Mârouf, Vincent in Mireille, Wilhelm in Mignon, Pedro in Laparra's La habanera, Des Grieux, Werther, Julien, Pinkerton and Cavaradossi as well as principal roles in many forgotten works.^[3] He performed alongside Mary Garden, Luisa Tetrazzini and Dame Nellie Melba. He also gave the world premiere of Boulanger’s song cycle Clairières dans le Ciel, which Boulanger claimed was inspired by his voice.

In 1909 Devriès took part in a disastrous season of comic opera for Oscar Hammerstein I in New York. Despite the project's failure, he continued there in a range of French opera, including Pelléas et Mélisande, with Mary Garden, which he later performed with much success at Covent Garden. He created the role of Paco in de Falla's La vie breve. He was also a very active singer in oratorio, in works ranging from J. S. Bach's St Matthew Passion to Berlioz' The Damnation of Faust.^[4]