Rene Maison

Dramatic tenor René Maison achieved stature in a number of main opera houses even more from his physical size (6 feet 4 inches) and dramatic force instead of from a sensuous vocal timbre. He was a discreet acting professional in tasks which were frequently crudely sketched and an achieved, purposeful musician aswell. These qualities produced him important as another to Melchior in every however the most heroic parts, and his personality assumptions were frequently genuinely special. Maison performed from an extremely early age, performing treble in the neighborhood chapel. When Belgium was overrun from the Germans in WWI, the foe forces regularly pressed the youthful René, hardly out of his teenagers, into providing concerts for the wounded and performing at solutions for the deceased. His family quickly sent him 1st to Brussels, after that towards the Paris Conservatoire to review tone of voice. His debut occurred in Geneva in 1920 when he sang Rodolfo in La bohème. From 1925, he sang for three months at Monte Carlo where his tasks, such as for example Hoffman and Faust, had been mainly in the lyric repertory. Just Huon (in Weber’s Oberon) recommended the heavier department into which he quickly moved. A overall performance of Alfano’s Risurrezione in the Opéra-Comique in Paris discovered him performing with Mary Backyard. Impressed, she urged the Chicago Civic Opera to place the youthful tenor under agreement. From 1927 to 1932, Maison sang in the Chicago Opera, adding light dramatic tasks such as for example Florestan, Lohengrin as well as the name body in Parsifal, sung just before a totally sold-out home in Dec 1931. Maison was presented to London using a Might 18 Lohengrin in 1931, however the solid impression he produced had not been repeated when, for factors still left unexplained, he was changed by an entirely poor German tenor for just two remaining shows. In 1936, Maison came back for the Julien in Louise, brandishing a musical instrument referred to as “a genuine tenor tone of voice” of adequate power as well as the lyrical quality had a need to provide the score alive. In the time pursuing his Chicago years, Maison sang throughout European countries and SOUTH USA, appearing for many seasons on the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. On Feb 3, 1936, Maison made an appearance on the Metropolitan Opera as Walter von Stolzing, starting an eight-season romantic relationship there. His functionality was considered commendable, however, many critics complained that his tone of voice had dropped its freshness and sounded relatively slim. A March 7 Fidelio, nevertheless, brought the verdict of a fantastic Florestan and, all the time, Maison’s musicianship was discovered first-rate. Critic Olin Downes, after getting disappointed by his Stolzing, experienced high compliment for his Loge in Das Rheingold. He published that it had been “far more advanced than his Walther. He was ironical, excellent, without exaggeration from the gestures and flirting from the reddish robe, significant in the treating the written text.” Among additional tasks cartoon by Maison during his Metropolitan years was Samson in Saint-Saëns’ generally static opera. The tenor’s imposing entire body lent trustworthiness to a personality all too often undersized. His Hoffman was unreservedly referred to as superb and his Erik in Wagner’s Fliegende Holländer was valued for both dramatic realization and vocal variation. Through the 1937 – 1938 time of year, Maison offered a robust Herodes in Salome. When Louise was revived for soprano and film star Elegance Moore, Maison’s Julien was thought to be the one really French overall performance. In 1931, Maison became the youngest vocalist to have obtained the Purchase of Leopold, granted from the Belgian nation.