Edmond Duvernoy
Charles-Henri Edmond Duvernoy (16 June 184412 January 1927) was a French pianist, baritone and vocal teacher, from a family of musicians. Life and career. Edmond Duvernoy was born in Paris. He was taught initially by his father, Charles-François Duvernoy, then studied at the Paris Conservatoire. A fine pianist, he began to teach, then studied singing, joining the Opéra-Comique company. He made his stage debut as Mercutio in the first performance at the Opéra-Comique of Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette" on 20 January 1873. He also sang Moralès in the premiere of Bizet's "Carmen  in 1875; Bizet composed three versions of the mélodrame" in Act 1 for Duvernoy. According to Malherbe, he had a relatively soft voice, but he used it with good taste, and with sufficient talent to enable him to become later one of the most esteemed vocal teachers. He sang Ganymède in "Galathée" in 1873, alongside his future wife, Mlle Franck, a soprano of the Opéra-Comique. Duvernoy and his wife moved to the Théâtre-Lyrique in 1877. Both of them participated in the private 'premiere' of Offenbach's "Les contes d'Hoffmann" on 18 May 1879, Duvernoy playing the piano. From  October 1887 to 1910 Duvernoy was a singing professor at the Conservatoire de Paris, with many important artists among his pupils including the Finnish sopranos Aino Ackté and Hanna Granfelt. He also composed some songs. He died in Paris in 1927, aged 82. His brother was Alphonse Duvernoy, pianist and composer.