Jean-Paul Jeannotte, the famed Quebec tenor, trainer and inventive administrator, has died at 95.
The information of his demise was verified by Olivier Godin, pianist and a shut good friend and protégé of Jeannotte. On Facebook, he wrote, “Jean-Paul was a male of unequalled class and elegance, extraordinarily cultured,” adding, “I uncovered so considerably from him about this occupation: the traditions of French repertoire and the insider secrets of new music, about literature, portray, theatre and dance — I am eternally grateful to him.”
Subsequent vocal reports in Montreal, Jeannotte moved to Paris in 1947, at the age of 21, to further his instruction with, between others, Pierre Bernac. He soon established his status there, building his operatic debut in 1947 in Cherbourg with roles in operas by Adolphe Adam and Charles Gounod. He then toured France as a soloist with the reputed Montreal choir Les Disciples de Massenet. In 1955, Jeannotte sang the position of Pelléas in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris reverse Suzanne Danco (Mélisande) and Gérard Souzay (Golaud), a efficiency that was was reprised in a CBC concert overall performance. His interpretation of the part has been preserved in this full archival recording:
https://www.youtube.com/observe?v=_pSy8m9R_Ps
Back again in Canada, Jeannotte established the purpose of Bobino in Maurice and Marthe Blackburn’s comedian one-act opera Silent Steps, which he performed extensively through a live performance tour structured by Jeunesses Musicales Canada in 1960. In 1961, at the top of the Chilly War, he did a recital tour of Europe and the U.S.S.R. with pianist Jeanne Landry. This recording of Reynaldo Hahn’s “L’heure exquise” captures their artistry:
https://www.youtube.com/observe?v=1ytsyRkMmbA
By the late 1960s and ’70s, Jeannotte’s experience, perception and eyesight attracted the focus of a number of vital cultural institutions in Quebec. He turned a voice teacher at Laval University and l’École Vincent-d’Indy he served as vice president and afterwards president of l’Union des artistes from 1976-80 he was on the board of l’Opéra de Québec and then in 1980, he grew to become the founding artistic director of l’Opéra de Montréal, a posture he occupied right until 1989.
Jeannotte was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1987.
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