Victor Maurel

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

Maurel was born in Marseilles. Educated in music and stage craft at the Paris Conservatory, he made his debut in opera at the city of his birth, Marseilles, in 1867. The following year, he performed on stage in Paris for the first time. The city of 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 and make-up skills; but his voice, while well trained and of good quality, was not considered to be as impressive as that of his chief French baritone rivals, Jean Lassalle (1847–1909) and Maurice Renaud (1861–1933).

In 1887, Maurel created the role of Iago in Otello at La Scala, Milan, and then, in 1893, he created the title role in Falstaff, again at La Scala. These were the final two operatic masterpieces composed by Giuseppe Verdi, and it was Verdi who selected Maurel to perform in the premieres.

Maurel made operatic history for a third time in 1892 when he was chosen to be the first Tonio in Ruggero Leoncavallo's enduringly popular verismo opera, Pagliacci.

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