Achille-Félix Montaubry

Achille-Félix Montaubry (12 November 1826 – 2 October 1898) was a French musician and operatic tenor, active in Paris; later a theatre director. His brother was the conductor and composer Édouard Montaubry (1824–1883).

Life and career Born in Niort, Deux-Sèvres, Montaubry at first studied cello at the Paris Conservatoire and began to play in orchestras, notably in the orchestra of the Théâtre du Vaudeville where his brother played first violin. Realising that he had an attractive voice, he returned to the Conservatoire as a student of Auguste Panseron and Marie Moreau-Sainti. After completing his studies he went to America and was engaged in New Orleans in both Italian and French opera. After two years he returned to Europe and found success as a light tenor in Lille, Brussels, the Hague, Strasbourg and Bordeaux.

In Le Joaillier de Saint-James (17 February 1862) he created the role of Bernard, and on 6 June 1863, in a brilliant revival of Zampa, Montaubry sang the title role, thus assisting a box-office success. He was also the first Bénédict in Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict, which premiered on 9 August 1862 in Baden-Baden. Eugène Gautier's Le Trésor de Pierrot (5 November 1864) saw Montaubry in the principal role (later going on to sing another Pierrot in Le Tableau parlant at the Théâtre de la Gaîté). In Le Voyage en Chine (1865) he created Henri de Kernoisan.