Victor Maurel

Victor Maurel as Don Giovanni

Victor Maurel (17 June 1848 in Marseilles - 22 October 1923 in New York City ) was a French operatic baritone who enjoyed an international reputation as a great singing-actor.

Educated in music at the Paris Conservatory, he made his debut in opera in Marseilles in 1867, before appearing in the following year in Paris. New York first heard him in 1873, when he performed at the Academy of Music. Later, he would sing at New York's Metropolitan Opera House (in 1894-96 and 1898-99). Other famous venues at which he appeared included London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1873-79, 1891-95 and 1904, and the Paris Opera, where he was on the roster of singers from 1879 through to 1894.

Maurel was renowned in Europe and the United States for his vivid stage presence and exceptional acting skills; but his voice, while of good quality, was not as impressive as that of his chief French baritone rival, Jean Lassalle (1847-1909). He created Iago in Otello at La Scala, Milan, in 1887, and the title role in Falstaff (also at La Scala, in 1893). These were the final two operas composed by Giuseppe Verdi. In 1892, Maurel had been the first Tonio in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

Maurel was equally adept at performing roles in French and Italian opera. He appeared, too, in several German operas by Richard Wagner and was a famous Don Giovanni in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera of the same name. After retiring from opera, Maurel taught singing in New York, where he died, aged 75. Some examples of his art are preserved on gramophone records which he made during the early years of the 20th century, when he was past his best. These recordings have been reissued on CD. He also wrote a number of books on opera and singing.

References

• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.