Ernest van Dyck

Ernest Van Dyck or Van Dijck (, 2 April 1861 – 31 August 1923) was a Belgian dramatic tenor who was closely identified with the Wagnerian repertoire.

Biography A native of Antwerp, where he was educated in a Jesuit school, Van Dyck studied both law and philosophy in Leuven before deciding to become an opera singer. The notary under whom he was studying introduced him to the conductor Joseph Dupont. He became a journalist, working for Le Courrier de l'Escaut in Antwerp and La Patrie in Paris.

From his arrival in Paris and debut at the Concerts Lamoureux in the first act of Tristan und Isolde he studied with Emmanuel Chabrier and became a close friend of the composer. The singer repaid Chabrier by advocating for performances of his operas in Karlsruhe and other places where he appeared. During the years appearing at the Orchestre Lamoureux concerts, Van Dyck sang in La Damnation de Faust, fragments from Sigurd, Tristan und Isolde, Die Walküre, Les Sept péchés capitaux of Otto Goldschmidt, and the premiere of Le Chant de la Cloche by Vincent d'Indy. With Camille de Roddaz, Van Dyck provided the libretto for Massenet's ballet set in Courtrai ('Légende mimée et dansée en un acte') Le Carillon, for the Vienna State Opera in February 1892. He died in Berlaar, Belgium, in 1923.

He was awarded several civic honors: Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, Order of Leopold, Order of Franz Joseph, the Order of Saint Stanislaus, the Order of the Zähringer Lion, the Star of Romania.