Léopold Simoneau

3 May 1916 St-Flavien (near Québec) – 24 August 2006 Victoria (British Columbia)

I wish to thank Helmut Krautschneider for the picture.

I wish to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the picture.

Léopold Simoneau sings Mignon:

Elle ne croyait pas

In RA format

Léopold Simoneau sings

Si j'étais, ô mon amoureuse (Duparc)

In RA format

I would like to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the recordings.

He studied voice with Émile Larochelle in Québec and with Salvatore Issaurel in Montréal, where he met another Issaurel pupil, soprano Pierrette Alarie; they married in 1946. He finished his studies with Paul Althouse in New York City from 1945 to 1947.
From 1949 to 1954, he sang in Paris at both the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique. From 1950, he had remarkable success as a Mozart singer at the Aix-en-Provence and Glyndebourne festivals. In 1953, he gave his Scala debut (Don Ottavio under Karajan), in 1954 at the Colón in Buenos Aires, Chicago, the Salzburg and Edinburgh festivals, in 1957 at the Vienna Staatsoper (9 performances as Ferrando and Don Ottavio until 1959). In 1963, he sang his only four performances at the Met (as Don Ottavio).
He retired from the operatic stage in 1964 and from the concert podium in 1970, subsequently working as a voice teacher and theater director. He is considered one of the foremost Canadian singers as well as one of the most important Mozart interpreters ever. He left lots of records.
Reference

Repertory
Lakmé (Hadji) – Montréal, Variétés Lyriques, October 1941
La traviata (Gastone) – Montréal, Variétés Lyriques, March 1943
Le nozze di Figaro (Curzio) – Montréal, Les Festivals de Montréal, 24 May 1943
Mignon – Montréal, Variétés Lyriques, November 1943
Il geloso schernito (composer: Pergolesi) – New York, Columbia University, December 1944
Die Zauberflöte – Montréal, Opera Guild, May 1945
Così fan tutte – Montréal, Montréal Opera Guild, May 1945
La fille du régiment – Montréal, Variétés Lyriques, September 1945
Die Entführung aus dem Serail – New Orleans, Opera, February 1946
Martha – Central City, Colorado Festival, July 1947
Mireille – Montréal, Variétés Lyriques, September 1947
L'amant jaloux – Paris, RDF, 15 December 1949
Le barbier de Séville – Tunis, January 1950
Don Giovanni – Aix-en-Provence, Festival, July 1950
La traviata – Montréal, Variétés Lyriques, April 1951
Idomeneo – Glyndebourne, Festival, June 1951
Oedipus rex – Paris, Festival du XX siècle, 19 May 1952
Iphigénie en Tauride – Aix-en-Provence, July 1952
La clemenza di Tito – New York, Townhall, 13 October 1952
The rake's progress – Paris, Opéra-Comique, 18 June 1953
Le roi David – Toulon, 13 July 1953
Les Indes galantes – Paris, Opéra, Autumn 1953
Columbus – Wien, 6 June 1955
L'elisir d'amore – Chicago, Opera, 22 November 1955
La Périchole – New York, Townhall, 14 February 1956
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein – New York, Townhall, 21 January 1958
Lakmé – San Antonio, Opera, 9 March 1958
Les pêcheurs de perles – Philadelphia, Academy, 27 February 1959
Thaïs – Chicago, Opera, 23 November 1959
Djamileh – Brooklyn, College, 4 December 1959
Perséphone – New York, Philharmonic, 22 October 1962
Semele – New York, Caramoor, 21 June 1969

Reference: Renée Maheu Pierrette Alarie, Léopold Simoneau. Deux voix, un art, Libre Expression, 1988

Go Home