Canadian Masters and their Works
Raoul Jobin – Carmen - 1946 
Biography by Renée Maheu
Bizet’s opera Carmen is a highlight in the singing career of Raoul Jobin. In the post World War II period he actively promoted the French repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and made his recording debut under the baton of Maestro Wilfrid Pelletier. During the 1934-35 season of the Bordeaux opera company in France, the singer first performed the role of Don Jose in Carmen at the age of 28, a leading role in French opera he would repeatedly sing throughout his prestigious career, including a 1941 premiere in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colon and subsequent appearances in San Francisco and New York. His own recitals would often include the “Flower Song,” a signature piece he performed with dramatic intensity. That led to creating his reputation of being a leading interpreter of operatic roles in his day.
Born in Quebec City (8 April 1906 – 13 January 1974, Quebec City), Jobin was one of the finest lyrical tenors ever known, hailed by many as the “Golden voice of Quebec,” even the “Canadian Caruso.” From his 1930 debut as Tybalt in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet to his 1958 farewell in Gabriel Fauré’s Pénélope, while still in full voice, his career was an uninterrupted string of successes before audiences throughout the Americas and Europe alike, putting the Midas touch on whatever role he played: Romeo, Don José, Des Grieux, Hoffman, Werther, Julien, Faust, Samson, Lohengrin, all of which were aided and abetted by some of the finest conductors at the time.
Raoul Jobin was very much part of a generation of voices trained in the French tradition of song, one emphasizing beauty and lyricism. From his first stage appearance in his home town, this legendary musical figure racked up over 3000 performances during his career, some 500 of them occurring in France between the two wars, a tenure at the Met in the 1940s, a host of recitals in major cities and in festivals as far as South America. After the War, his return to the Paris Opera in the role of Lohengrin was a milestone in a truly stunning career.
Wherever he sang, Raoul Jobin left a strong impression on those who knew him. An artist revered by colleagues and students enrolled at the Montreal and Quebec conservatories, he was generous to a fault, affable and of unquestionable artistic and personal integrity.
Links
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