Léopold Simoneau
Simoneau was the prototypical Mozart tenor, with an unusually sweet voice, strong breath control, easy pianos and pianissimos, and graceful phrasing. His unstrained head voice also made him ideal for French lyric roles, such as Wilhelm Meister in Mignon, Nicias in Thais, and Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, operas in which he enjoyed great success as well.
He studied in Montreal with Salvator Issaurel and made his operatic debut there in 1941, as Hadji in Delibes' Lakmé. In 1949, he made his debuts in Paris, at the Opera-Comique as Vincent in Gounod's Mireille and at the Opera as Tamino in The Magic Flute. His Glyndebourne debut was in 1951 as Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo, and he made his La Scala, Vienna Staatsoper, Salzburg, and Met debuts in Mozart roles as well. While Mozart and French operas made up his core repertoire, he also appeared in the lighter Italian roles, including Alfredo in La traviata.
He married soprano Pierrette Alarie in 1946. After their retirements, they founded the Canada Opera Piccola a touring company that specializes in nurturing young singers, in 1986. (One of Opera Piccola's alumni is tenor Richard Margison.) Though the performance version is heavily cut, his Idamante in Pritchard's first recording of Idomeneo (EMI CHS7 63685-2) is ravishing, as is his Nadir on Philips under Fournet (Philips 434 782-2).
© TiVo
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Bizet: The Pearl Fishers (Les Pêcheurs de perles)
Pierrette Alarie, Léopold Simoneau, Orchestre Lamoureux, Jean Fournet
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice, Tragic Opera in three acts
Hans Rosbaud, Orchestre Lamoureux, Léopold Simoneau
Klassiek - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on 5 jan. 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann (Mono Version)
Léopold Simoneau, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Pierre-Michel Le Conte, Orchestre des concerts de Paris
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen
Pierre-Michel Le Conte, Consuelo Rubio, Léopold Simoneau
Opera - Released by Urania on 7 feb. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Opera recitals and lieder
Léopold Simoneau, Pierrette Alarie
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (1956), Volume 1
Orchestre Lamoureux, Hans Rosbaud, Léopold Simoneau
Klassiek - Released by Classical Moments on 30 apr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Léopold Simoneau - French & Italian Arias And Duets
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg on 1 jan. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (1956), Volume 2
Orchestre Lamoureux, Hans Rosbaud, Léopold Simoneau
Klassiek - Released by Classical Moments on 30 apr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (French Version, Mono Version)
Orchestre Lamoureux, Hans Rosbaud, Léopold Simoneau, Suzanne Danco
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Opera Works
Léopold Simoneau, Wiener Symphoniker, Pierrette Alarie, Bernhard Paumgartner, Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Walter Goehr
Opera - Released by Archipel on 18 sep. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Georg Friedrich Händel: Der Messias
Chor der Händel Gesellschaft London, Orchester der Händel Gesellschaft London291: Walter Goehr111: Mattiwilda Dobbs, Léopold Simoneau, Grace Hoffman, Heinz Rehfuss
Sacred Oratorios - Released by Cantus Classics on 3 mei 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Grande messe des morts "Requiem" (Live)
Léopold Simoneau, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Klassiek - Released by Orfeo on 1 jan. 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles (1893 Version, Mono Version)
Pierrette Alarie, Léopold Simoneau, Orchestre Lamoureux, Jean Fournet
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Les Contes D'hoffmann
Mattwilda Dobbs, Uta Graf, Léopold Simoneau
Opera - Released by Urania on 4 nov. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Récital Léopold Simoneau (Mono Version)
Léopold Simoneau, Paul Strauss, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Opera - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Leopold Simoneau
Klassiek - Released by Preiser Records on 12 okt. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Airs de concert & Duos d'opéra (Mono Version)
Pierrette Alarie, Léopold Simoneau, Walter Goehr
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Delibes: Lakmé, sélection (Mono Version)
Pierrette Alarie, Léopold Simoneau, Orchestre Lamoureux, Pierre Dervaux
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Opernarien und -Duette (Mono Version)
Pierrette Alarie, Léopold Simoneau
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Requiem
Klassiek - Released by Past Classics on 24 aug. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Così fan tutte, Extracts (Mono Version)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Léopold Simoneau
Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo