Simoneau, known as 'the Mozart tenor of his generation,' dies
Last Updated: Sunday, August 27, 2006 | 7:15 PM ET
CBC Arts
Canadian Leopold Simoneau — who has been described as "the Mozart tenor of his generation" and performed in the 1950s and 1960s with outstanding conductors as Herbert von Karajan, Bruno Walter and Sir Thomas Beecham — has died.
Simoneau, who was 90, passed away on Thursday night in his home in Victoria, where he had lived for the past 20 years with his wife, soprano Pierrette Alairie. Both had been named companions of the Order of Canada.
Born near Quebec City in St. Flavien in 1916, Simoneau went on to study music in Montreal, where he met his future wife.
Leopold Simoneau, right, and his wife, soprano Pierrette Alarie, speak with then Gov.-Gen. Romeo LeBlanc in 1996 as they were named companions of the Order of Canada.
(Canadian Press)
His star rose during the early 1940s, when he performed with Variétés Lyriques in productions that included La Traviata and The Barber of Seville, often opposite Alarie. Those first recitals were broadcast on CBC Radio.
Simoneau's career continued to climb during the decade, with acclaimed performances as Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte and Tamino in the Canadian premiere of The Magic Flute.
He hit the world opera stage in 1949, performing in Paris and working with famed composer Igor Stravinsky, among others.
Simoneau became known as an expert interpreter of Mozart and had an illustrious career singing with the top symphony orchestras and some of the world's best conductors, including Beecham, von Karajan, Walter and Sir John Pritchard.
The International Dictionary of Opera describes Simoneau as "the Mozart tenor of his generation."
He also spent the 1963-64 season with New York's Metropolitan Opera, prompting Theodore Strongin of the New York Times to write that Simoneau sang "with intelligence as well as beauty of sound."
He appeared in a historic production of Oedipus Rex at the 1952 Festival du XXe Siecle in Paris, with composer Stravinsky as the conductor and artist and writer Jean Cocteau as narrator.
The next year, he appeared in Don Giovanni at the esteemed La Scala in Milan with von Karajan and followed that up in 1954 by performing with the Vienna State Opera in London.
Simoneau made his final public appearance as a tenor in 1970, singing Handel's Messiah with the Montreal Symphony.
Teacher, creative director
He then became the first creative director of the Opéra du Quebec in 1971 and went on to teach at the San Francisco Conservatory and the Banff School of Fine Arts.
He and his wife settled in Victoria in 1982, where they founded Canada Opera Piccolo, an advanced program of training for young singers.
In 1990, France honoured Simoneau, naming him an Officer of the Ordre des arts et des lettres.
Five years later, Simoneau and his wife graduated from officers to companions of the Order of Canada.
