24 Facts About Gabriel Bacquier

Gabriel Bacquier was a contemporary of, and shared his student life with, future leading French singers Regine Crespin, Xavier Depraz, Michel Senechal and Michel Roux.

Gabriel Bacquier joined the opera company of Jose Beckmans in 1950, and was a member of La Monnaie in Brussels from 1953 until 1956, making his debut in the title role of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Gabriel Bacquier appeared there in Puccini's La boheme and Madama Butterfly, and in Smetana's The Bartered Bride.

Gabriel Bacquier was invited to the Glyndebourne Festival in 1962, to sing Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.

From 1963, Gabriel Bacquier sang regularly at the Vienna State Opera and La Scala in Milan.

Gabriel Bacquier appeared in the televised Royal Silver Jubilee Gala in 1977.

Gabriel Bacquier made his American debut at a Carnegie Hall concert, after which his stage debut was with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1962, as the High Priest in Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saens, which was his debut role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on 17 October 1964.

Gabriel Bacquier performed there for 18 seasons, as one of only a few French singers, including the premiere of a new production of Tosca with Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli.

Gabriel Bacquier sang frequently at the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company between 1963 and 1968, making his debut on 22 February 1963 as Zurga in Bizet's Les pecheurs de perles with Ferruccio Tagliavini as Nadir and Adriana Maliponte as Leila.

Gabriel Bacquier made his debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1971 as Michele in Puccini's Il tabarro.

Gabriel Bacquier made his last stage appearance in Paris in June 1994, with a final performance of Don Pasquale at the Opera-Comique.

Gabriel Bacquier appeared as Arkel in Pelleas et Melisande in Marseille in 1995, and took part in later public performances, such as Somarone in concert performances of Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict in Toulouse and Paris in February 2003, and as the reciter in Francaix's Les Inestimables Chroniques du bon geant Gargantua in Vichy in December later that year.

Gabriel Bacquier was active in the field of melodies, and made recordings of songs by Maurice Ravel, Deodat de Severac, Marc Berthomieu, Francis Poulenc and others.

In 2007, Gabriel Bacquier recorded thirteen songs by the actor and songwriter Pierre Louki, with musicians directed by Jacques Bolognesi.

Gabriel Bacquier recorded six Poulenc songs, accompanied by Jacques Fevrier, for French television in June 1964, subsequently issued on DVD.

Gabriel Bacquier was active as a teacher, first at the vocal school of the Paris Opera and later at the Paris Conservatory until 1987, and from 2001 at the Academie de Musique de Monaco, where he directed student productions.

In 2007, Gabriel Bacquier recorded thirteen songs by actor and songwriter Pierre Louki, directed by Jacques Bolognesi.

Gabriel Bacquier is featured as one of the interviewees in the book by Sylvie Milhau Doucement les Basses ossia Diner avec Gabriel Bacquier, Jose van Dam et Claudio Desderi.

Gabriel Bacquier was one of the lead signatories to a petition in 2008 Appel a la Refondation des Troupes de Theatre Lyrique to defend and promote French singing.

Gabriel Bacquier died on 13 May 2020 in his home at Lestre in the Manche department, only four days shy of turning 96.

Gabriel Bacquier received numerous awards and distinctions in his native France, such as Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, Officier de L'Ordre national du Merite, Officier de L'Ordre national du Merite Europeen, Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Gabriel Bacquier received a Medaille de la Ville de Paris.

Gabriel Bacquier appeared in the 1976 film La Grande Recre, and in a cameo singing role in the wedding scene of the 1986 film Manon des Sources.

Gabriel Bacquier starred in the 1979 film of Falstaff directed by Gotz Friedrich, and the studio film of The Love for Three Oranges in 1989.