Edmond Duvernoy by Ken

Edmond Duvernoy (1844-1927); French baritone (and pianist).
He was the son of the well known baritone Charles François Duvernoy (1796-1872) from whom he received his vocal training. In 1873 he made his debut at the Opéra Comique Paris as Mercutio in Gounod's "Roméo et Julliette". He created Moralès in the premiere of Bizet's "Carmen" in 1875; Bizet composed three versions of the "Mélodrame" in Act 1 for Duvernoy. In 1873 he sang Ganymède in Massé's "Galathée" alongside his future wife Mademoiselle Franck (Adèle Franck-Cahn), a soprano of the Opéra-Comique. Duvernoy and his wife moved to the Théâtre-Lyrique in 1877. Both of them participated in the private premiere (at Offenbach’s house) of "Les contes d'Hoffmann" on 18 May 1879; Edmond Duvernoy playing the piano and his wife singing the soprano roles. From 1887-1910 he had an appointment as vocal pedagogue at the Conservatoire National Paris.