Bastin, Jules

views updated

Bastin, Jules

Bastin, Jules, Belgian bass; b. Pont, Aug. 18, 1933; d. Brussels, Dec. 2, 1996. He was a student of Frédéric Anspach at the Brussels Cons. In 1960 he made his operatic debut in Brussels as Charon in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, and then sang regularly at the Théâtre de la Monnaie there. In 1972 he first sang with the Covent Garden company in London at a Promenade Concert as Balducci in Benvenuto Cellini, and returned to London in 1974 to make his stage debut with the company as Baron Ochs. He appeared as the Monk in Don Carlo at his Salzburg Festival debut in 1976. In 1979 he sang the role of the Banker in the Paris premiere of the three-act version of Berg’s Lulu. He also pursued an active concert career. Among his other roles of note were Osmin, Dr. Bartolo, the Grand Inquisitor, and Varlaam.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

More From encyclopedia.com