Pedro Gailhard Explained

Birth Name:	Pierre Samson Gailhard
Birth Date:	1 August 1848
Occupation:	Opera singer, theatre director

Pedro or Pierre Gailhard, full name Pierre Samson Gailhard, (1 August 1848 – 12 October 1918) was a French opera singer and theatre director.^[1]

Gifted with an exceptional singing bass voice, Pedro Gailhard made his debut at the Opéra-Comique in December 1867, then sang at the Opéra Garnier, as Mephisto in Faust by Charles Gounod in 1871, a role which he also sang at Covent Garden.^[2] His interprétation of Leporello in Don Giovanni by Mozart was considered remarkable, as was his portrayal of other roles, such as Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Kaspar in Weber's Der Freischütz, the King in Thomas' Hamlet, Pythéas in Gounod's Sapho, Saint-Bris and Nevers in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, and Faust in Boito's Mefistofele.^[3]

Pedro Gailhard was the first lyric artist to be named director of the Paris Opera,^[4] which he headed from 1884 to 1891 and from 1893 to 1907.^[5] He was mentioned as such in the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.^[6]

Bibliography

• Anne-Marie Gouiffès, Pedro Gailhard, un artiste lyrique à la direction de l'Opéra de Paris. 1884-1907, 2000, thèse, dir. D. Pistone, Université Paris Sorbonne.
• Fontaine, Gerard (2003). Visages de marbre et d'airain: La collection de bustes du Palais Garnier. Paris: Monum, Éditions du patrimoine. .
• Kutsch, K. J.; Riemens, Leo (2003). Großes Sängerlexikon (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur. .

External links

• "Gailhard, Dictator of Paris Opera, Dies", The New York Times, 14 October 1918

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rosenthal . Harold . Gailhard, Pierre . Grove Music Online . Oxford University Press . 30 July 2019 . January 20, 2001.
2. Web site: Covent Garden on record [sound recording] : a history. Volume I, 1870-1904 ]. New York Public Library . Pearl . 30 July 2019 . Online library record.
3. Kutsch & Riemens 2003, "Gailhard, Pierre".
4. Web site: Gouiffès . Anne-Marie . Pedro Gailhard, un artiste lyrique à la direction de l'Opéra de Paris : 1884-1907 . theses.fr . l’Agence Bibliographique de l’Enseignement Supérieur . 30 July 2019 . Summary of PhD thesis.
5. Fontaine 2003, p. 23.
6. Web site: Leroux . Gaston . Phantom of the Opera . The Project Gutenberg . Project Gutenberg . 30 July 2019 . 1910 . I have the anecdote, which is quite authentic, from M. Pedro Gailhard himself, the late manager of the Opera..