Vanni Marcoux

Jean-Émile Diogène Marcoux (June 12, 1877 – October 22, 1962) was a French operatic bass-baritone, known professionally as Vanni Marcoux (sometimes hyphenated as Vanni-Marcoux). He was particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories. His huge repertoire included an estimated 240 roles and he won renown as one of the most memorable singing-actors of the 20th century.

Jean-Émile Diogène Marcoux was born to a French father and an Italian mother in Turin, Italy. His mother gave him the nickname "Vanni", short for Giovanni, the Italian equivalent of Jean. After completing law studies, he decided to devote himself to music. He studied with Collini at the music conservatory in his hometown.

He made his operatic debut in 1894, at the age of 17, as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto, in Turin. After further studies in Paris with Frédéric Boyer, he made his first stage appearance in France, at Bayonne, as Frère Laurent in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, in 1899. Thereafter he toured a number of provincial theatres, which led to his debut at the Royal Opera House in London, as Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, in 1905, and at La Monnaie in Brussels, as Bertram in Meyerbeer's Robert le diable, in 1906.

Vanni Marcoux made his Paris Opéra debut in 1908 as Méphisto in Gounod's Faust, and at La Scala in 1910, as the Old Hebrew in Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah. The same year, 1910, he sang for the first time Massenet's Don Quichotte at the "Gaieté Lyrique"" in Paris, a part that would soon become his signature role. For nearly 40 years, Vanni Marcoux was a familiar and much admired figure in Parisian musical life, mainly at the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique, where he created a number of roles in contemporary operas such as Raoul Gunsbourg's Lysistrata, Max d'Ollone's L'Arlequin, Henry Février's Monna Vanna and La Femme nue, Massenet's Panurge, and Honegger's and Ibert's L'Aiglon.

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