Louis Dister
  He studied at the Conservatory of Liège and made his debut at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels in Richard Strauss's "Salome" on March 24th, 1907. He sang there (sometimes as a member, sometimes as a guest), other than in 1907, in the 1918/19, 1926–30 and 1931/32 seasons. His repertoire included Turiddu ("Cavalleria rusticana"), Noureddine ("Le khadi dupé"), Mergy ("Le Pré aux clercs"), Shahabarim ("Salammbô"), Pinkerton ("Madama Butterfly"), Cavaradossi ("Tosca"), Gerald ("Lakmé"), Vincent ("Mireille"), Hoffmann ("Les contes d'Hoffmann"), Tamino ("Zauberflöte"), Don José ("Carmen"), Werther, Duca di Mantova ("Rigoletto"), Rodolfo ("Bohème"), Alfredo ("Traviata"), Des Grieux ("Manon") and Wilhelm Meister ("Mignon"). In the 1909/10 season, he made a guest appearance at the Royal Flemish Opera of Antwerp in G. Charpentier's "Louise". In 1921 and from 1923 to 1925 he again appeared at that opera house. He sang at the Opera of Ghent in the 1912/13, 1920/21 and 1932/33 seasons. He performed at the Opera of Verviers in 1925 as Alfredo in "La traviata". In 1929 he sang the role of Rodolfo in "La bohème" there, and the next year appeared as Gerald in "Lakmé". He performed not only at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, but also in Geneva, Lyon and Bordeaux. At the Théâtre Royal de La Haye ('s Gravenhage/Den Haag), he made his debut in "Faust" (1909). In the Netherlands, his last performance was in 1929 as Wilhelm Meister in "Mignon" by Ambroise Thomas. He made several recordings for the label Columbia from 1930 until the end of his career.
Chantal, Ghent jm 235A Rigoletto (Verdi): Qu'une belle 1752 Pathé, 1928 42225 Aimons-nous follement (Radoux) X53117 42226 Extase (Radoux) X53117 42227 Ombâde a riyéte (Van Damme) X53118 42228 Tchantez djéniton (Van Damme) X53118 Columbia, Brussels 1929-03-28 WLX 949-1 Lakmé (Delibes): C'est le dieu de la jeunesse (w Talifert) D14248 WLB6 Werther (Massenet). Invocation à la nature RF 18 WLB8 Tosca (Puccini): Ô de beautés égales RF21 Columbia, Brussels 1929-03-29 WLX 952-2 Lakmé (Delibes): Fantaisie aux divins mensonges D14248 WLX 953 WLX 954 D11054 WLX 955-2 D11054 WLX 957-1 &2 Le crucifix (Faure) unpubl WLX 958-2 Charité (Faure) D11845 Columbia, Brussels 1930-04-30 WLB 22 Werther (Massenet): J'aurais sur ma poitrine RF18 WLB23 La dame de pique (Tchaikovsky): Vivre aimer RF21 WLBX 33 La muette de Portici (Auber): Amour sacré de la patrie (w Richard) unpubl Columbia, Brussels 1930-05-06 WLB67 La muette de Portici (Auber): Du pauvre seul ami fidèle RF14 WLB 68 La muette de Portici (Auber): Amour sacré de la patrie (w Richard) RF14 Columbia, Brussels 1931-06-02 WLB 205 La jolie fille de Perth (Bizet): Sérénade RF53 Columbia, Brussels 1931-06-06 WLB 243-1 La belle Hélène (Offenbach): Air de Paris RF53 Columbia, Brussels 1931-06-09 WLB 258 Chant hindou (Bemberg) RF 51 WLB 259 Sérénade française (Leoncavallo) D14248, RF 51 Columbia, Brussels WLX 579 La bohème (Puccini): Que cette main est froide D14246 WLX581 Mignon (Thomas): Elle ne croyait pas D14246 W52008 Le crucifix (Faure) (w Richard) D14255 W52009 Les pêcheurs de perles (Bizet): Au fond du temple saint (w Richard) D14255 WLBX5 Raymond (Thomas): Cavatine de Raymond RFX 9 WLB6 Werther (Massenet): Invocation à la nature RF18 WLBX9 Richard Coeur-de-Lion (Grétry): Air de Richard RFX 9  Cavalleria rusticana Le khadi dupé Le pré aux clercs Salome (one of the five Jews) Madama Butterfly Tosca Lakmé Mireille Les contes d'Hoffmann Die Zauberflöte Carmen La bohème La traviata Manon Mignon
Discography, biography and pictures have been provided by Christian Torrent: thank you! Reference: Richard T. Soper Belgian opera houses and singers, The Reprint Company, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1999. |