Joachim Ulric Voyer (5 July 1892 – 8 January 1935) was a Canadian opera composer. His L'Intendant Bigot, created in Montreal in 1929, was one of the first Canadian operas.Rubrique Le mois musical, " Notre premier opéra canadien. "
Early life J.-Ulric Voyer was not a professional musician. He worked for 21 years as an advertising agent for J.-B. Renaud. He was artistic director of radio station CHRC.« Mort subite », Le Soleil (quotidien), 8 January 1935, p. 14
He studied at Wallace. He studied musical composition with M. Lefrançois, organist of St-Roch,L'Oncle Gaspard, « Un grand ami de la musique », L'Événement (quotidien), 9 January 1935, p. 4 and studied the piano with M. Hudson. In Montreal, he studied the organ and harmony with Léon Dessane and Auguste Descarries.« J.-Ulric Voyer », sur The Canadian Encyclopedia, 31 March 2016 (Consulted on October 7, 2019)
L'Intendant Bigot
L'Intendant Bigot was created under the patronage of the Honorable Athanase David, provincial secretary,Le grand gala d'opéra réunira toute la société québécoise – Patronage de l'Hon. by the Société canadienne d'opérette established by Honoré Vaillancourt, his managing director and M. Albert Roberval, art director, who managed this opera.Riel, « Notes biographiques – Le Maître A. Roberval », L'événement (quotidien), 7 September 1928, p. 6 The opera premiered February 5, 1929 at the Monument National de Montréal "in front of a record attendance".« La pièce de M. J.-U. Voyer a du succès à Montréal – Le premier opéra canadien a été joué hier soir au Monument National devant une assistance-record – Le libretto », Le Soleil (quotidien), 6 February 1929, p. 4 Three additional sold-out performances were mounted at the Auditorium de Québec in the presence of celebrities including Sir Lomer Gouin, and Madam Louis- Alexandre Taschereau, wife of the Prime Minister." L'Intendant Bigot fera salle comble », L'événement, 22 March 1929, p. 5 The opera was under the direction of Edmond-J. Trudel and the title role was entrusted to Arnold Becker of New York's San Carlo Opera.« Le plus grand événement théâtral de la saison », Le Soleil (quotidien), 16 March 1929, p. 19
The opera evokes the years of oppression endured by the people under Governor Bigot, the last governor of New France, and his accomplices who were repatriated to France, where they were sentenced to stiff penalties for corruption and had their properties dispossessed. The opera makes a reference to "this period which extends from 1755 to 1760, when François Bigot, governor of the law, the police and finance had absolute power to increase his authoritarianism, to display his sumptuous taste as a big player and bon vivant, and, according to the appetites which he wanted to satisfy, to even turn to crime to denounce the darkest plots".« L'Intendant Bigot », Le Mégantic (quotidien), 21 November 1928, p. 1
Synopsis
J.-U. Voyer and Alfred Rousseau'sJ.-Ulric Voyer, L'Intendant Bigot – Opéra en 3 actes – Livret de J.-U. Voyer et Alfred Rousseau, musique de J.-U. Voyer (lire en ligne) libretto, featured François Bigot, the last governor of New France and his mistress Madam Péan, Angélique Renaud d'Avène des Méloises (nicknamed The Pompadour of Quebec,« Les romantiques – Site francophone dédié au roman féminin » (Consulted on July 11, 2016) wife of Michel Jean Hugues Péan, the governor's right-hand man as well as the Marquis Gaston of St-Germain.
The show takes place in Quebec in 1758.
Fictitious characters provide dramatic historic and symbolic aspects. The charactersLe Duo lyrique Laplante-Duval présente les principaux extraits de L'Intendant Bigot – Lecture publique pour les enfants du compositeur, samedi 14 décembre 1996 à 16 h à l'Institut Canadien de Québec, Québec, 1996, dépliant 1 p. and their intrigues:
"Can this work, writes J.-Ulric Voyer, if it communicates to the listener bitter regret at the sight of this innocent victim who had deserved to be happy with us always, he clearly understands, also, that France has not died a natural death, but they killed her, in spite of us. A finale without this innocent victim would have been easily found. But history is there, that a few days after this legend, was a beautiful and greatest victim. The separation was cruel, so cruel, that after 168 years, at the heart of all French-Canadians, there is still a bitter regret, a hope, an I remember... "
Libretto
Act One The first act is set in 1758, on the côte de Beaupré, at Bigot's hunting lodge. He is in the company of the Marquis de St-Germain, to whom he owes a large sum. The Marquis agrees to erase this debt if Bigot succeeds in convincing Gemma to marry him. But Gemma loves Raymond, a young hunter, and refuses Bigot's request.
Act Two The second act is set in the guest house of Dumas, the father of Gemma, where Bigot and the marquis try in vain to convince Gemma. By leaving, the marquis forgets a glove which Raymond finds and makes a fit of jealousy and parts from Gemma.
Act Three In the third act, a party is organized at Bigot's home, and Gemma is invited. Bigot hires 3 bandits to kidnap her and bring her by force to his house. During the kidnapping, Gemma is fatally injured and one of the arrested bandits reveals the plot. Furious, a crowd captures Bigot and crushes him under a bench.
Reception The five performances of the opera L'Intendant Bigot were sold out, and were well received by the press. Several artists stressed the qualities of the work, including Wilfrid Pelletier, conductor of New York's Metropolitan Opera, who said to the author: "you possess a theatrical writing, and it is an extremely rare thing, not only in the United States, but in Europe nowadays".« Une entrevue de l'auteur de cet opéra canadien – Le compositeur de « L'Intendant Bigot, » M. Voyer, se réjouit de l'intérêt manifesté à son oeuvre. M. Honoré Vaillancourt,Philippe Laframboise, « Vaillancourt, Honoré » (Consulted on August 8, 2016) managing director of the Société canadienne d'opérette, considered the author to be "the first Canadian to produce a lyric work set on stage in the form of an opera ". Arnold Becker of New York's San Carlo OperaJames B. McPherson, « San Carlo Opera Company » (Consulted on August 8, 2016) underlined that the author "possesses the so-called extramusical faculties, without which any composer, however capable he may be, even Schubert, would be incapable to make his plays triumph."" Un opéra canadien au Monument National », La Patrie (quotidien), 2 February 1929, p. 35 The work, however, raised in the pages of the magazine La Lyre in May 1929, much controversy initiated by recognized professional artists, forcing the editorial committee to intervene." He wrote, "Unfortunately, personal arguments, completely unrelated to the music, were presented. [] we have never said that M. Voyer, self-taught, produced a masterpiece, no more than we said that M. Voyer gave, in his score, trips to the rules of the musical prosody."La rédaction, " Note de la rédaction », La Lyre, May 1929, p. 5
Rediscovery
The opera was rediscovered in 1996 At the Institut canadien de Québec. 75 of the composer's descendants and friends watched eleven extracts performed by Bruno Laplante and France Duval, accompanied by Hélène Marceau on the piano. On August 7, 1998, at the Jardin des Gouverneurs in Old Quebec, 800 to 1000 people listened to a concert version." L'Opéra L'Intendant Bigot », Journal de Québec (quotidien), 9 August 1998, p. 9 It was part of the Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France.
The cast included twenty singers under the direction of Bruno Laplante accompanied by 25 musicians from the Quebec Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gilles Auger. The main performers were Manuel Blais, baritone, Réginald Côté, a tenor, France Duval, a soprano, Benoît Gendron, a tenor, Bruno Laplante, baritone, Line Malenfant, soprano and Sébastien Ouellet, baritone. The performers were in costume.
The performances were narrated by Jacques Boulanger.
Twenty members of the Société lyrique de la Nouvelle Beauce formed the chorus.Jacques Légaré, " Une vingtaine de Beaucerons vont chanter dans L'Intendant Bigot », Hebdo régional (Beauce), 1 August 1998, p. 4
Recordings and publications In 1929, two excerpts of L'Intendant Bigot were recorded for the Starr label: "Romance du marquis " was sung by C.E. Brodeur and " Dans un petit village " by Marie-Rose Descarries. " In less than two months, wrote the editorial staff of the magazine La Lyre, more than ONE THOUSAND copies of the single " Dans un petit village ", were sold, sung so sweetly by Miss Marie-Rose Descarries. After 26 years in the music business in Montreal, we believe that this is a sales record that has never been achieved by Canadian work, during this period ".
On October 30, 1929, at Steinway Hall,"Audrie Rubanni's Recital », New York Times, 31 October 1929, p. 29 soprano Audrie Rubanny, accompanied by the pianist Edgar Goodaire, performed "Dans un petit village" in her recital.Audrie Rubanni, Soprano – Program, 1929, 1 p., p. 1
In 1997, the single "Ô mon ami, veuille le dire encore " was recorded by the Laplante-Duval duo on the CD l'Opérette française. The same excerpt is incorporated into their recital and was sung on their European tour.
Besides the publication of the libretto, nothing was published from this work by the author during his lifetime.
In 2000 the Nouveau théâtre musical in collaboration with the Société des amis d'Ulric Voyer published the score and arrangements for voice and piano.J.-Ulric Voyer, Alfred Rousseau, Nouveau théâtre musical et Société des amis d'Ulric Voyer, L'Intendant Bigot [musique] : opéra historique canadien en 3 actes (1928) = historical Canadian opera in 3 acts (1928), Québec, Nouveau théâtre musical, 2000, XII, 344 p. The Nouveau théâtre musical also published in 2007, a few vocal scores: "Ronde de l'Ours Noir" for bass voice and piano, "Quel sublime décor" for baritone and piano, "Dans un petit village" for soprano and piano and "Dans l'abandon, les noirs regrets" for tenor and piano.« Nouveau Théâtre Musical » (consulté le 8 août 2016)
Other works La duchesse en sabots: this one-act comic opera, featuring 45 extras, was performed on November 8 and 9, 1920 for the benefit of the parish church of Saint François d' Assise, in Quebec« Premiers opéras » , sur J.-Ulric Voyer, compositeur d'opéra canadien (Consulted on August 8, 2016) Petit Mouton: composed between 1920 and 1923, this comic opera in 4 acts was never created. A 144-page manuscript of orchestration is kept in the family archives, as well as some violin and voice scores. Triste réalité: on April 10 and 11, 1923, at the Académie de St-Sauveur, the dramatic 3 act work "Triste réalité", was performed at the Académie de St-Sauveur. The scene takes place in Saint-Sauveur (electoral district), in Quebec City and is interpreted by the Cercle dramatique Legault." Jean-Marie et Triste réalité », Action catholique (quotidien), 10 April 1923, p. 8 Jean-Marie: on the same occasion, excerpts of the opera Jean-Marie, composed by J.-Ulric Voyer, were also presented. The libretto was written in association with Alfred Rousseau.« Jean-Marie », Le Soleil (quotidien), 12 April 1923, p. 8 François – Xavier Mercier, the tenor who directed this opera, remarked that " the plot is good, the scenes are well organised and the music is of an originality and a surprising truth. It is a real opera which I do not hesitate, he wrote, to place next to well known works.« L'opéra Jean-Marie », Le Soleil (quotidien), 7 April 1923, p. 2