Émile Colonne

Émile Colonne (18 April 1885 – 13 May 1970) was a French baritone, a member of the troupe of the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels.

Biography Émile Aimable Parfait Colonne was born in Toulon on 18 April 11885 in a modest family. His father was a carpenter and nothing predestined the young apprentice plumber who liked to sing in a lyrical career. A lung disease caused him to take singing lessons as therapeutic breathing exercises. His natural dispositions led him to the conservatory of Toulon and then to the Marseille conservatory where he obtained a First Prize.

On 7 June 1913, he married a young pianist in Toulon: Marie-Louise Bonduel (Toulon, 22 August 1886 - Brussels, 30 November 1970), whose family was linked to personalities such as Claude Debussy, Xavier Leroux and Camille Saint-Saëns. He made his debut on the stage of the Opéra de Toulon. His voice of baritone of opéra comique and his physical appearance as a "young premier" made him noticeable by opera directors who called him on stages all over the country and beyond: Toulouse, Nancy, Strasbourg, Geneva, Algiers, Marseille, Tunis, Nantes. Opera Boniface: Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame by Jules Massenet Créon: Antigone by Arthur Honegger Des Grieux: Manon by Jules Massenet Don Giovanni: Don Giovanni by Mozart Germont: La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi Ourrias: Mireille by Charles Gounod Pandolphe: Cendrillon by Jules Massenet Sancho: Don Quichotte by Jules Massenet Il barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini Grisélidis by Jules Massenet Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod Recital Don Quichotte à Dulcinée by Maurice Ravel La Légende du preux by The dream by Franz Schubert O Holy Night by Adolphe Adam