Ferdinand Prévôt Explained

Ferdinand Prévôt (2 May 1800  - 11 June 1879)^[1] was a French operatic bass-baritone.^[2] His surname is also found spelled as Prevot or Prévost.

He was born Pierre-Ferdinand Prévôt in Caussade (Tarn-et-Garonne). He studied at the Paris Conservatory, winning the first prize in vocalisation and second prize in chant in 1823.^[1]

The son of a singer, he appeared in the Paris Opéra chorus in 1818.^[2] He made his debut as a soloist in Grétry's Anacréon chez Polycrate on 15 March 1824.^[1] He enjoyed a long career creating a number of minor roles in important operas. He sometimes sang in the same performances with his son Alexis Prévôt (a bass) and/or Alexandre Prévôt (also a bass). Since first names are sometimes not given in the sources, it is not always possible to determine which singer is meant.^[2]

Prévôt retired in 1857 and died in Vulaines in 1879.^[1]

Roles created

• Adam in the revised version of La mort d'Abel by Rodolphe Kreutzer, 17 March 1823
• Omar in Le siège de Corinthe by Gioachino Rossini, 9 October 1826
• 4th Knight in Le comte Ory by Gioachino Rossini, 20 August 1828
• Aufide in Moïse et Pharaon (French version of Mosè in Egitto) by Gioachino Rossini, 26 March 1827
• Selva in La muette de Portici by Daniel Auber, 29 February 1828
• Leuthold in William Tell by Gioachino Rossini, 3 August 1829
• Armfelt in Gustave III by Daniel Auber, 27 February 1833
• First man of the people in La Juive by Fromental Halévy, 23 February 1835
• Méru in Les Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer, 29 February 1836
• Téobaldo in Guido et Ginevra by Halévy, 5 March 1838
• Bernardino in Benvenuto Cellini by Hector Berlioz, 10 September 1838^[3]
• Fritz in Le lac des fées by Daniel Auber, 1 April 1839
• Herald of arms in La reine de Chypre by Halévy, 22 December 1841
• Barlow in Le vaisseau fantôme by Louis Dietsch, 9 November 1842

Sources

• Jullien, Adolphe (1888). Hector Berlioz: Sa Vie et ses oeuvres (in French). Paris: Librairie de l'Art. View at Google Books.
• Kutsch, K. J., Riemens, Leo (2003). Großes Sängerlexikon (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur. .
• Pierre, Constant, editor (1900). Le Conservatoire national de musique et de déclamation. Documents historiques et administratifs. Paris: Imprimerie National. 1031 pages. View at Google Books.
• Shulmann, Laurie C (1992), 'Prévôt, Ferdinand' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie (London) .

Notes and References

1. Pierre 1900, p. 834.
2. Kutsch & Riemens 2003, p. 3763.
3. Jullien 1888, p. 120.