Xavier Depraz

Xavier Depraz né Xavier Marcel Delaruelle 22 April 1926 18 October 1994 was a French opera singer and actor Born in Albert Somme Depraz was a bass at the Paris Opéra until 1971 He took part in the premieres of operas by Marcel Landowski and Sergei Prokofiev He also appeared as an actor first on television where he played the role of Ursus in The Man who laughs by Jean Kerchbron then on the big screen Depraz entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1947 where he attended the classes of Fernand Francell for singing Louis Musy for the stage and René Simon for theatre He participated in the premieres of several operas Marcel Landowskis Le Rire de Nils Halerius 1951 and Le Fou Poulencs Dialogues des Carmélites and in concert version Prokofievs The Fiery Angel 1954 In the 1953 Paris premiere of The Rakes Progress at the OpéraComique Depraz was a splendid Nick Shadow He also sang in Bartóks Bluebeards Castle Verdis Rigoletto Mozarts Don Giovanni Massenets Don Quichotte and Thaïs among others For his appearance as Méphistophélès in Monte Carlo in 1959 one reviewer commented Xavier Depraz immensely tall and surprisingly thin and angular for an operatic bass produced a suitably resonant and cavernous voice and histrionically was satisfyingly demonic He also appeared at the French provincial opera houses Glyndebourne and Venice and was appointed a professor of opera at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1973 In 1971 he began a career as an actor in film and television His recordings include Une éducation manquée Pausanias Les Pêcheurs de perles Nourabad Romeo et Juliette Frère Laurence Carmen Zuniga for Beecham and Haitink Renard Dialogues des Carmélites Le Marquis de la Force and the Duruflé Requiem Depraz died in SaintÉtiennedeSaintGeoirs Isère on 18 October 1994 Source Article Xavier Depraz from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30