Who am I?

I was born in 1965. I started singing at the age of 16 with Marie Louise Lauta Vermeil in PARIS. She is a wonderful piano and music theory teacher.

 

I am what we call a vocal gifted person, with all the problems that go with it. That is to say that when I was young my voice always came out, whatever the mistreatment that I made it undergo. I was proud, not understanding the warnings of seasoned singers, and I was intoxicated with compliments. Unfortunately, I understood later, at my expense!

 

I did my military service in 1986 in the choirs of the French army, conducted at the time by Serge Zapolsky, and entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in PARIS in the classes of Jane Berbié, Xavier Depraz and Bernard Broca.

 

Quickly hired as a tenor within the artistic agency Cedelle, I took part in numerous Operas and Oratorios as a soloist. I have sung under the direction of great conductors, such as Charles Dutoit, Jiri Kout, Marek Janowski, Jaffrey Tate, Ricardo Muti and many others.

 

I've had the opportunity to sing in Latin America, Italy, Germany, England, and practically every opera in France, including the Opera Bastille, in Strauss's Elektra, with Gwyneth Jones.

 

I have done many internships with great singers, such as Vera Rosza, Christa Ludwig, Gino Becchi.  I also worked on pedagogy during training, in particular with Géraldine Ros and Monique de Saint Ghislain, at Harmonique, directed by Jean Francis Zermati.  

I know what a production is. I know the rigor of the artist's profession, the requirement of the stage, the necessary regularities in the performance. I also know what it means to hold a place in the largest symphonic choir in the world, because singing in a choir is often more difficult than singing as a soloist, if we put aside the stage fright, which we overcome, or not.

 

When I started, I was consumed with this stage fright and suffered from a total lack of self-confidence, and for good reason. It was not me who did what I wanted with my voice, but rather my voice did what I wanted, what it wanted from me. Fortunately, I had a rock solid instrument. Completed and demoralized by the voice laboratory which had convinced me that if I had trouble in the treble it was that I was baritone. Mentally exhausted, rightly put aside by my agent, I still had to live so I then tried and passed the entrance examination in the Choir of  Radio France in 1994, where I spent 17 years as tenor 2, to my greatest happiness.

 

I have worked with many masters and have spent my life in the exciting study of vocal instrument and singing. My schedule at Radio France allowed me to continue singing as a soloist, and to devote a lot of time to learning.  

 

I worked, among other things, and out of order with:

Marie Louise Lauta Vermeil, Lya Gaches, Claire Dinville, Christiane Patar, Jean Pierre Blivet, Vera Rosza, Mady Mesplé, Remy Corazza, Peter Gotlieb, Claude Tiollas, Guy Lacairie, Yvonne Pons, Malcolm king, Giuseppe Giacomini, Giorgio Zancanaro, Jeanne Berbié , Anne Le Coutour, Anna Maria Bondi, Paata Burchuladzé, Nikolas Nilolov in Sofia, Anne Donadieu, Jean Loupien (last pupil of George Thill), Christa Ludwig, Christian Guerrin,  Anne Courty, Tomy Leichtweis. They owe them all a lot.

 

A car accident in 2006 (frontal collision on the motorway with an on-coming car driven by an elderly person with Alzheimer's disease) was decisive. 14 open fractures, severe head trauma, pneumothorax, torn spleen. The doctors said I would never walk again. After several years of hospital and rehabilitation centers, of nightmarish struggles, the man that I had been was transformed, I saw life differently.

 

I lost my voice twice. The first time in 1986, when I was in the choirs of the French Army. Indeed, to be tenor 1 at the age of 21, with a very large lyrical tenor instrument, without any technique, is suicidal for the voice, and what had to happen happened. Large glottic cleft causing air leakage. Vocal rest and rehabilitation was to follow.  Fortunately for me I had two of the best speech therapists in Paris, Lya Gaches, then Claire Dinville from whom I was able, after my rehabilitation, to continue to learn for years, especially about the lesions acquired, for my greater happiness and that of my students today.  

 

The second time was in 2006 after my car accident. I was subject to13 operations and intubations: artificial coma; and intubated under a respirator for almost 15 days. I had nothing left, only a ghost of a voice. Even speaking was difficult. I had, for the second time, through my work, my will and my experience, come back better and stronger. As a result, I know how to make students work and adapt to each case. Thanks to all my experiences with all my teachers, to my dozens of readings and numerous internships, I was able to learn numerous ways of approaching work, and experimenting with what works and what does not.  And when it works, it works every day.  I was also able to associate the science of the masters with medical and physiological research thanks to, among others, my friend Christian Guerin who wonderfully swept away all the contradictions and nonsense that can be heard from many professors. Gigli is not far from Johan Sundberg!

 

In the past, one would stay with our teacher for years. Caruso stayed 12 years with his master, Mario Filipeschi vocalized 5 years with his. Callas spent his days with Elvira de Hidalgo, listening to all the  Classes. Today, in our busy society, you have to move quickly, and that goes against art. How many times have I heard “But today we don't sing like that anymore” Oh good ?? !! Well, it's a shame, and luckily there are the microphones to save the day! All enthusiasts have the great distributions of the past in their ears and complain that they no longer find it. Could you imagine today a Walstein, a Tauber, a Lauri-Volpi or a De Luca? It would be a tsunami and nothing else would exist. We are no dumber than the ancients, and this working method, this aesthetic of the voice is delivered to us everywhere, to whoever wants to hear it, not only with extraordinary instruments like Youtube, but also in the writings. The ancients all said the same thing: "The voice is in the head, and not in the throat".  A minimum of fatigue for a maximum range and beauty. In addition, this vocal position makes the text intelligible even from a distance, clear and easy.

 

At home, we take our time, and you will understand that by taking the time at the beginning we, in fact, gain a lot.  Let me end with the motto of the Royal College of Music in London: “He who struggles, succeeds”. Thank you for your patient reading.