Jacques Jansen
Encyclopedia
Jacques Jansen was a French baryton-martin
singer, particularly associated with the role of Pelléas but also active in operetta and on the concert platform, and later as a teacher.
and bassoon
at the conservatoire in Tours
, where he also pursued courses in fine arts.
Having taken vocal lessons with Charles Panzéra
, from 1938 he studied under Claire Croiza
and Georges Viseur (solfège) at the Paris Conservatoire. He also took classes with René Simon
and Louis Jouvet
and won prizes which might have allowed to followed a career in acting. In 1939 he sang the fountain scene and the tower scene of Claude Debussy
's opera Pelléas et Mélisande
with the Orchestre National de France
under Inghelbrecht
, an experience which left him overwhelmed with joy.
He made his debut as Pelléas at the Grand Théâtre de Genève
in 1941.
After his Paris debut at the Opéra-Comique
as Pelléas on 20 April 1941, Jansen also appeared as a singer in Fauré
's Masques et bergamasques (January 1942), Valérien in Malvina (July 1945) and the title role in Fragonard (February 1946).
Jansen recorded Pelléas with an Opéra-Comique cast under the conductor Roger Désormière
in April and May 1941 with Irène Joachim
as Mélisande.
This recording is widely considered as a reference recording of this opera.
Jansen later recorded the same role under André Cluytens
and Inghelbrecht. He also sang the role under Désormière with the Opéra-Comique company at Covent Garden
in June 1949, as well as in New York, Brussels, Lisbon, Berlin, Milan, Rome and Tokyo.
His last performance was in Tours
in March 1971.
Although best remembered for the role of Pelléas he also sang baroque
opera (Les Indes galantes
by Jean-Philippe Rameau
), modern opera (Christophe Colomb
by Darius Milhaud
and Les caprices de Marianne
at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in 1956), operetta
(The Merry Widow
by Franz Lehár
, the premiere of La Belle de Paris by Georges Van Parys in 1961 and Antonin in Ciboulette
in Geneva) and Lied
er. Jansen was a magnetic interpreter of Danilo in The Merry Widow, which he performed some 1,500 times in France, displaying his acting skills, which he also used in several films. He dubbed the singing voice of Alain Cuny
in Les Visiteurs du Soir
(1942).
He was for five years professor at the Conservatoire in Marseille
, then held a similar post at the Paris Conservatoire, finally teaching vocal technique at the Opéra-Studio.
.
He recorded selections from Véronique
with Yvonne Printemps
in 1941, The Merry Widow in 1953, Ta bouche in 1956, and Fragonard in 1957.
He made records of songs by Schubert, Hahn
, Jaubert
, Beydts
, and Françaix
.
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
singer, particularly associated with the role of Pelléas but also active in operetta and on the concert platform, and later as a teacher.
Life and career
Jansen had a wide musical and artistic education; after studying the violin in Paris, he took lessons in solfègeSolfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
and bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
at the conservatoire in Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, where he also pursued courses in fine arts.
Having taken vocal lessons with Charles Panzéra
Charles Panzéra
Charles [Auguste Louis] Panzéra was a Swiss operatic and concert baritone.-Overview:Panzéra's studies at the Paris Conservatory under the tuition of Amédée-Louis Hettich were interrupted by his volunteering into the French Army during World War I...
, from 1938 he studied under Claire Croiza
Claire Croiza
Claire Croiza was a French mezzo-soprano and an influential teacher of singers.-Career:Claire Croiza was born in Paris, the daughter of an expatriate American father and an Italian mother, and as a child she excelled at piano and singing...
and Georges Viseur (solfège) at the Paris Conservatoire. He also took classes with René Simon
René Simon
René Simon, , born in Troyes was a French actor and founder in 1925 of the Cours Simon drama school.-External links:...
and Louis Jouvet
Louis Jouvet
Louis Jouvet was a renowned French actor, director, and theatre director.- Life :Overcoming speech impediments and sometimes paralyzing stage fright as a young man, Jouvet's first important association was with Jacques Copeau's Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, beginning in 1913...
and won prizes which might have allowed to followed a career in acting. In 1939 he sang the fountain scene and the tower scene of Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
's opera Pelléas et Mélisande
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
with the Orchestre National de France
Orchestre National de France
The Orchestre national de France is a symphony orchestra run by Radio France. It has also been known as the Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française and Orchestre national de l'Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française .Since 1944, the orchestra has been based in the Théâtre...
under Inghelbrecht
Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht
Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht was a French composer, conductor and writer.- Life and career :Inghelbrecht was born in Paris, the son of a viola-player. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and made his debut as a conductor in 1908 at the Théâtre des Arts.Inghelbrecht entered the Conservatoire aged 7...
, an experience which left him overwhelmed with joy.
He made his debut as Pelléas at the Grand Théâtre de Genève
Grand Théâtre de Genève
Grand Théâtre de Genève is an opera house in Geneva, Switzerland.As with many other opera houses, the Grand Théâtre de Genève is both a venue and an institution. The venue is a majestic building, towering over Place Neuve, officially opened in 1876, partly destroyed by fire in 1951 and reopened in...
in 1941.
After his Paris debut at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
as Pelléas on 20 April 1941, Jansen also appeared as a singer in Fauré
Faure
Faure or Fauré is a French family name and may refer to:People:* Edgar Faure, French politician* Élie Faure, French art historian and essayist* Émile Alphonse Faure, lead battery pioneer* Cédric Fauré, French football striker...
's Masques et bergamasques (January 1942), Valérien in Malvina (July 1945) and the title role in Fragonard (February 1946).
Jansen recorded Pelléas with an Opéra-Comique cast under the conductor Roger Désormière
Roger Désormière
Roger Désormière was a French conductor.Désormière was born in Vichy in 1898. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where his professors included Philippe Gaubert , Xavier Leroux and Charles Koechlin , and Vincent d'Indy...
in April and May 1941 with Irène Joachim
Irène Joachim
Irène Joachim, born 13 March 1913 in Paris, died 20 April 2001, also in Paris, was a French soprano, and later a vocal teacher.-Early life:Daughter of Herman Joachim and Suzanne Chaigneau, and grand-daughter of the violinist Joseph Joachim, she learnt violin and piano as a child...
as Mélisande.
This recording is widely considered as a reference recording of this opera.
Jansen later recorded the same role under André Cluytens
André Cluytens
André Cluytens was a Belgian-born French conductor who was active in the concert hall, opera house and recording studio. His repertoire extended from Viennese classics through French composers to 20th century works...
and Inghelbrecht. He also sang the role under Désormière with the Opéra-Comique company at Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
in June 1949, as well as in New York, Brussels, Lisbon, Berlin, Milan, Rome and Tokyo.
His last performance was in Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
in March 1971.
Although best remembered for the role of Pelléas he also sang baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
opera (Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes is an opéra-ballet consisting of a prologue and four entrées by Jean-Philippe Rameau with libretto by Louis Fuzelier...
by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
), modern opera (Christophe Colomb
Christophe Colomb
Christophe Colomb is an opera in two parts by the French composer Darius Milhaud. The libretto, by the poet Paul Claudel, is based on his own play Le livre de Christophe Colomb about the life of Christopher Columbus. The opera was first performed at the Staatsoper, Berlin on 5 May 1930 in a German...
by Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
and Les caprices de Marianne
Les caprices de Marianne
Les caprices de Marianne is a two-act opéra comique by Henri Sauguet with a French libretto by Jean-Pierre Grédy after Alfred de Musset. It was first performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1954, with the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire conducted by Louis de Froment with...
at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in 1956), operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
(The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
by Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
, the premiere of La Belle de Paris by Georges Van Parys in 1961 and Antonin in Ciboulette
Ciboulette
Ciboulette is a French opérette in three acts, music by Reynaldo Hahn, libretto by Robert de Flers and Francis de Croisset, first performed at the Théâtre des Variétés, in Paris, on April 7, 1923...
in Geneva) and Lied
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
er. Jansen was a magnetic interpreter of Danilo in The Merry Widow, which he performed some 1,500 times in France, displaying his acting skills, which he also used in several films. He dubbed the singing voice of Alain Cuny
Alain Cuny
Alain Cuny was a French actor.He was born René Xavier Marie in Saint-Malo, Brittany, and studied medicine for a while before entering the film industry as a costume and set designer. Cuny started acting in the 1930s...
in Les Visiteurs du Soir
Les Visiteurs du soir
The Devil's Envoys is a 1942 film by French film director Marcel Carné, famous for his romantic tragedy, Children of Paradise...
(1942).
He was for five years professor at the Conservatoire in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, then held a similar post at the Paris Conservatoire, finally teaching vocal technique at the Opéra-Studio.
Discography
Besides the three recordings of Pelléas et Mélisande, Jansen's discography includes Frédéric in a complete LakméLakmé
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
.
He recorded selections from Véronique
Véronique (operetta)
Véronique is an opéra comique or operetta in three acts composed by André Messager. The French libretto was by Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo...
with Yvonne Printemps
Yvonne Printemps
Yvonne Printemps was a French singer and actress.-Biography:Born Yvonne Wigniolle, she made her debut at the age of 12 in a revue at La Cigale in Paris. She was dancing at the Folies Bergère at age 13...
in 1941, The Merry Widow in 1953, Ta bouche in 1956, and Fragonard in 1957.
He made records of songs by Schubert, Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn was a Venezuelan, naturalised French, composer, conductor, music critic and diarist. Best known as a composer of songs, he wrote in the French classical tradition of the mélodie....
, Jaubert
Maurice Jaubert
Maurice Jaubert was a French composer of incidental music for stage and film music, famous for his collaborations with the masters of poetic realism Jean Vigo, René Clair, Julien Duvivier and Marcel Carné...
, Beydts
Louis Beydts
Louis Beydts was a French composer, music critic and theatre director, born 29 June 1895 in Bordeaux and died on 15 August 1953 at Caudéran in Gironde.-Life and career:...
, and Françaix
Jean Françaix
Jean René Désiré Françaix was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style.-Life:...
.
Filmography
- 1942 : Patricia by Paul Mesnier
- 1944 : La Malibran by Sacha GuitrySacha GuitryAlexandre-Pierre Georges Guitry was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the Boulevard theatre.- Biography :...
- 1944 : Bonsoir mesdames, bonsoir messieurs by Roland Tual
- 1949 : La Ronde des heures by Alexandre RyderAlexandre RyderAlexandre Ryder was a Polish born French film director best known for his crime drama films of the 1920s and 1930s.He directed some 20 films between 1920 and 1950....
- 1972 : Figaro-ci, Figaro-làFigaro-ci, Figaro-làFigaro-ci, Figaro-là is a 1972 French film directed by Hervé Bromberger.-Cast:* Jean-François Poron - Beaumarchais* Marie-Christine Barrault - Julie* Yves Rénier - Gudin* Isabelle Huppert - Pauline* Alexandre Rignault - Caron, le père de Beaumarchais...
by Hervé BrombergerHervé BrombergerHervé Bromberger was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed 16 films between 1951 and 1982.-Selected filmography:* Paris Vice Squad * Three Fables of Love...
(TV)