Gilbert Py

Gilbert Py was the son of circus performers, and grew up in a trailer, always on tour; the family's short periods of rest were spent in Montpellier. Already as a small child, he learned to play the accordeon and the violin, for the sake of circus appearances. His parents never had a dime, and the children were prepared to help earning some money very early on. 7-year-old Gilbert, on his accordeon, played a serenade in thelion cage, in their circus show. At age 11, the fearless child took part in the Globe of Speed act that is still popular in circusses: in a steel grid globe, ten meters in diameter, a motorcyclist drives in loops at full speed. In that particular show, the bike had a side-car, where little Gilbert sat, playing his accordeon.

A few years later, he had a far less dangerous act where he dressed up as Luis Mariano, and lip-synced some of his operetta hits. One day, he tried singing them himself. A woman who took voice lessons heard him, and introduced him to her teacher. Fast forward, Py won a singing competition in Cannes, and made his operatic debut as Pinkerton in Verviers (14 November 1964). For a while, he sang around Belgium and Northern France (Tourcoing, Rennes), but in 1965, he was already in Liège, and in 1966 in Gent. Before long, he sang in Bordeaux and Nice, and from 1969 in Paris, both at the Opéra (Don José, Berlioz' Faust, Cavaradossi, Manrico, Samson) and the Opéra-Comique (Werther, Hoffmann, Canio, Cavaradossi).

Internationally, he sang in Miami (US debut), New Orleans, at the Vienna Staatsoper (1971–77), in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, in Palermo, Torino, Catania, Bologna, Genova, Naples, Bari, at the Arena di Verona, in Barcelona, Valencia, Lisbon, Santiago de Chile, Ciudad de México (1978), São Paulo, Budapest, Belgrade, Dublin, Toronto, Sankt Gallen, at the Met (Radames, 7 performances, 1976), Washington, Marseille, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Lille, Tallinn, and a whole lot in Ankara...

In the 1980s, he used the stage name "Max Eggert" for a few years, before ending his career again as Gilbert Py.

His repertory included, other than the roles already mentioned, Otello, Florestan, Turiddu, Lohengrin, Siegmund, Pollione, Jean, Chénier or Énée.

Reference 1, reference 2: Kutsch & Riemens

I wish to thank Georges Cardol for the recordings (Hérodiade).

I wish to thank Claude Ribou for the pictures & discography.