Hector Dufranne

Hector Dufranne (October 25, 1870, Mons - May 4, 1951, Paris) was a Belgian bass-baritone.

Dufranne studied in Brussels, and made his debut there, at La Monnaie, as Valentin, in 1896.

He sang at the Opéra-Comique in Paris from 1900 to 1909, where he created several roles, notably; Saluces in Griselidis (1901), Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande (1902), Amaury-Ganelon in La fille de Roland by Henri Rabaud (1904), and Clavaroche in Fortunio by André Messager (1907). He also appeared at the Monte Carlo Opera, where he took part in the creation of Thérèse by Jules Massenet, in 1907. He made his debut at the Paris Opera in 1909, and sang there Scarpia in the premiere of Tosca.

He also appeared in America, at the Manhattan Opera in New York, 1908-1910, where he took part in many local premieres notably; Golaud, le Prieur in Le jongleur de Notre-Dame, Caoudal in Sapho. He also sang at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, 1910-1922, creating there Léandre in The Love for Three Oranges (in French) by Sergei Prokofiev, in 1921.

In 1923, in Paris, he created for Manuel de Falla, his Les Tréteaux de Maitre Pierre.

One of the grandest voices of his time, he sang until 1939.