Louis Delaquerrière

Louis-Achille Delaquerrière, who was born in Les Loges, France 24 February 1856 and died in Paris 11 September 1937, was a French opera singer, and later a voice pedagogue, active in France.

Life and career As a child he was a pupil in the choir of Rouen Cathedral.

At La Monnaie in Brussels, Delaquerrière sang Wagner in Méphistophélès by Boito in 1883, created a role in Le panache blanc (by Philippe Flon) and sang L'abbé in Le trésor (by Charles Lefebvre) in 1884, created David in the local premiere of Les maîtres chanteurs de Nuremberg (translated by Victor Wilder) and appeared in Joli Gilles (Ferdinand Poise) in 1885.

He sang in Geneva for a season then returned to the Opéra-Comique. At the 100th performance of Le Barbier de Séville at the Opéra-Comique on 25 Feb 1887, he sang Almaviva with Mézeray as Rosine and Soulacroix as Figaro; other roles with the company included Mergy in Le pré aux clercs and Alexis in Le déserteur.

The singer was on good terms with several contemporary artists and composers; Among his papers were letters from composers of his time, as well as manuscripts, including one of Liszt.

In January 1893 he sang Pierre in the premiere of Messager's Madame Chrysanthème at the Salle de la Renaissance du Théâtre-Lyrique, where he also sang in Fra Diavolo, Le Barbier de Séville and Obéron.

He left the stage while still young (1899) to devote his time to vocal teaching.

For 25 years, both the Paris Opéra and Opéra-Comique recruited artists at his School. Among his pupils were well-known opera singers such as Edmond Clément, Lucienne Bréval and Paul Franz. Emma Calvé, although not a pupil, came to rehearse at the Delaquerrière home, particularly while they were all in Brussels at the same time.

His son was José Delaquerrière (born Paris 16 September 1886, died Montreal 10 April 1978), also a tenor, known for his leading roles in operetta, whose early musical training in Paris was provided by his parents. In his book Savoir chanter (first published 1976 (Éd. Mondex), 2nd edition 2008 (Éd. Delaquerrière Richardson, Montréal)), José covers the theoretical and practical aspects of the Delaquerrière School of French singing. Those portions of Louis and José's personal notebooks related to voice topics were transcribed and translated by Sophie Louise Roland in her D. Mus. document.

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