VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Leopold Simoneau, one of Canada’s most acclaimed opera singers who performed with many of the world’s major orchestras, died Aug. 24 in his Victoria home. He was 90.
“He worked with all the great conductors of an earlier generation. He was without doubt one of the most accomplished singers we have ever produced,” Pacific Opera Victoria artistic director Timothy Vernon said.
The tenor rose to fame in the early 1940s singing with the Varietes lyriques, performing such well-known pieces as the “Barber of Seville” and “La Traviata.”
His career gained an international dimension in 1949 when he began performing in Paris, working with composer Igor Stravinsky, among others.
Mr. Simoneau quickly developed a reputation as an expert interpreter of Mozart and went on to sing with many of the world’s major orchestras, including New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Lyric Opera in Chicago.
In 1970, Mr. Simoneau made his final public appearance, singing Handel’s “Messiah” with the Montreal Symphony.
“He had a particular style. Faultless technical control,” Mr. Vernon said. “He pushed himself right to the wall to develop a technique that was completely at his control and completely able to express what he felt.”
After teaching for many years, Mr. Simoneau and his wife, soprano Pierrette Alarie, settled in British Columbia in 1982, where they founded Canada Opera Piccola, an advanced training program for young singers.
Mr. Simoneau, who was born near Quebec City in 1916, earned several honorary degrees and was made a companion of the Order of Canada in 1995 one of Canada’s highest honors.
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