Jean-Baptiste Faure

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Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Faure by Édouard Manet

Jean-Baptiste Faure (15 January 1830 - 9 November 1914)^[1] was a celebrated French baritone and composer.

Faure was born in Moulins. A choirboy in his youth, he entered the Paris Conservatory in 1851, and made his operatic debut the following year at the Opéra-Comique as Pygmalion in Massé's Galathée. He debuted at Covent Garden in 1860, and at Paris Opéra in 1861.

Among the roles he sang were the leading parts in Le Pardon de Ploermel, L'Etoile du Nord, Don Juan, and as Alphonse in Le Favorite, the Duc de Nevers in Les Huguenots, and Nelusko in L'Africaine. He created several roles, including the title role in Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet.

He wrote two books on singing, La Voix et le Chant (1886) and Aux Jeunes Chanteurs (1898), and taught at the Paris Conservatory from 1857 to 1860.

He composed several beloved songs, like "Sancta Maria", and most notably Crucifix and Les Rameaux, both of which were recorded by Enrico Caruso.

He died in Paris. According to his obituary in the New York Times, he was an officer of the Legion of Honor. An avid collector of impressionist art, he sat for multiple portraits by Édouard Manet. He was married to singer Constance Caroline Lefèbvre (1828-1905).

[edit] Notes

^ Baker, Theodore; rev. by Nicolas Slonimsky (1994) The concise edition of Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians - 8th ed. New York: Schirmer Books, 289.