Charles-Marie-Auguste Ponchard by Mayer & Pierson

Charles-Marie-Auguste Ponchard (1824-1891); French tenor and the son of tenor Louis-Antoine-Eléonore Ponchard (1787-1866) and soprano Marie Sophie Collault-Ponchard (1792-1873). He made his debut in 1847 at the Grand Opéra Paris and in the same year he sang at the première of Adam's "La Bouquetière". In 1847 he also joined the Opéra-Comique and stayed there as a singer until 1871. From 1865 he was also working as a stage-director and he became famous for his productions of Bizet's "Carmen", Ambroise Thomas' "Mignon" and Massenet's "Manon". From 1872 he was working as a voice-teacher at the Conservatoire National in Paris.