Dufranne, Hector (Robert)

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Dufranne, Hector (Robert)

Dufranne, Hector (Robert), Belgian bass-baritone; b. Mons, Oct. 25, 1870; d. Paris, May 3, 1951. He studied in Brussels, making his operatic debut there at the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie as Valentine in Faust (Sept. 9,1896). He then went to Paris as a member of the Opéra-Comique (1899–1909) and the Opera (from 1909). He also sang at the Manhattan Opera in N.Y. (1908–10), the Chicago Grand Opera (1910–22), and London’s Covent Garden (1914); he retired from the stage in 1939. He created roles in several French operas, including Golaud in Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande (1902).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire