Xavier Depraz, né Xavier Marcel Delaruelle (22 April 1926 – 18 October 1994) was a French opera singer and actor.
Life Born in Albert (Somme), Depraz was a bass at the Paris Opéra until 1971. He took part in the premieres of operas by Marcel Landowski and Sergei Prokofiev. He also appeared as an actor, first on television, where he played the role of Ursus in The Man who laughs by , then on the big screen.
Career Depraz entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1947 where he attended the classes of Fernand Francell for singing, Louis Musy for the stage and René Simon for theatre.Alain Pâris. Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle. Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, 1995 (p351). He participated in the premieres of several operas: Marcel Landowski's Le Rire de Nils Halerius (1951) and Le Fou, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites and, in concert version, Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel (1954). In the 1953 Paris premiere of The Rake's Progress at the Opéra-Comique Depraz was "a splendid Nick Shadow".Henri-Louis de La Grange. Report from Paris. Opera, September 1953, Vol 4, No.9, p554-555. He also sang in Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, Verdi's Rigoletto, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Massenet's Don Quichotte and Thaïs among others. For his appearance as Méphistophélès in Monte Carlo in 1959 one reviewer commented "Xavier Depraz, immensely tall, and surprisingly thin and angular for an operatic bass, produced a suitably resonant and cavernous voice, and histrionically was satisfyingly demonic".Patrick Turnbull. Reports from Monaco. Opera, May 1959, Vol 10, No.5, p321-2.
He also appeared at the French provincial opera houses, Glyndebourne and Venice, and was appointed a professor of opera at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1973.
In 1971, he began a career as an actor in film and television.
His recordings include Une éducation manquée (Pausanias), Les Pêcheurs de perles (Nourabad), Romeo et Juliette (Frère Laurence), Carmen (Zuniga for Beecham and Haitink), Renard, Dialogues des Carmélites (Le Marquis de la Force) and the Duruflé Requiem.WorldCat results for Xavier Depraz, accessed 9 March 2019
Depraz died in Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs (Isère) on 18 October 1994.
Discography 1953: Pausanias in Chabrier's Une Éducation manquée conducted by Charles Bruck (Le Chant du Monde) 1953: Nourabad in Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de perles conducted by Jean Fournet (Philips) 1954: Basile in excerpts from Le Barbier de Séville with the Opéra-Comique company under Jules Gressier (Pathé) 1954: Ariste in Bondeville's L'Ecole des Maris with the Opéra-Comique company under Albert Wolff (Decca - excerpts) 1954: Ruprecht in Prokofiev's L'Ange de Feu with the Paris Opera under Charles Bruck (Vega) 1958: Marquis de la Force in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites conducted by Pierre Dervaux (Angel) 1958: Zuniga in Carmen under Thomas Beecham (HMV) 1967: Mephistopheles in excerpts from Faust under Jésus Etcheverry (Vogue) 1968: Frère Laurence in Roméo et Juliette under Alain Lombard (EMI)
Filmography Cinema 1972: Le Droit d'aimer (by Éric Le Hung) 1973: L'Emmerdeur (by Édouard Molinaro) – Louis Randoni 1973: I Don't Know Much, But I'll Say Everything (by Pierre Richard) – General Deglane 1974: Black Thursday (Les Guichets du Louvre) (by Michel Mitrani) 1975: Cher Victor (by Robin Davis) 1976: Dracula and Son (Dracula père et fils) (by Édouard Molinaro) – Le majordome 1976: Le Gang (by Jacques Deray) – Jo 1977: Death of a Corrupt Man (Mort d'un pourri) (by Georges Lautner) – Marcel 1978: Butterfly on the Shoulder (Un papillon sur l'épaule) (by Jacques Deray) – Miguel Carrabo 1978: The Brontë Sisters (by André Téchiné) – Monsieur Hager 1981: For a Cop's Hide (Pour la peau d'un flic) (by Alain Delon) – Kasper 1985: Carmen with Glyndebourne Opera conducted by Bernard Haitink – Zuniga.
Television 1968: Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (TV Movie, by Pierre Badel) – le Grand Turc 1970: L'élixir du R.P. Gaucher (by Pierre Badel) – le prieur à la voix de ténor 1971: L'Homme qui rit (by Jean Kerchbron) – Ursus 1972: Mauprat (by Jacques Trébouta) – Marcasse / Narcisse 1972: The Accursed Kings (by Claude Barma) – Jacques de Molay 1973: Vogue la galère (TV Movie, by Raymond Rouleau) – Comité 1974: Beau-François (by Roger Kahane) – Pingre #9 1982: Le Voyageur imprudent (by Pierre Tchernia) – Méphisto 1984: Les Enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (Episode: "Maigret à Vichy", by Alain Levent) – Le commissaire Lecoeur 1991: Marie Curie, une femme honorable (by Michel Boisrond) – Anatole France (final appearance)
Cartoons 1978: La Ballade des Dalton (by René Goscinny and Morris) – The cowboy who dodges the train (voice)
Theatre 1974: Les Aventures de Tom Jones by Jean Marsan and after Henry Fielding, directed by René Clermont, Théâtre de Paris
References
External links Xavier Depraz on Art lyrique.fr
Xavier Depraz on Forum opéra Biography on Music Me Discography on Discogs Xavier Depraz – Eugène Onéguine (YouTube)