Leon Rothier

as Don Pizarro "Fidelio" Beethoven


Léon Rothier
1874 – 1951
French operatic bass

Studied the Conservatoire de Paris .1899, he made his singing debut at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, in Charles Gounod's Philémon et Baucis. One year later, he participated in the premiere of Gustave Charpentier's Louise. Rothier left the Opéra-Comique in 1907, and after some short stints with a few smaller French opera companies, moved to the United States, beginning a 30-year association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He created the role of Grandfather Tyl in L'oiseau bleu by Albert Wolff (1919). He was still fulfilling public singing engagements in New York City as late as 1949, at the Town Hall performance space.