Jules Bastin

Jules Bastin ( born August 18, 1933, Pont -Ligneuville, Bellevaux- Ligneuville, † December 2, 1996 in Waterloo ) was a Belgian opera singer in the bass voice.

Life

After attending school in Stavelot and a subsequent stay in the Belgian Congo, Jules Bastin was during a concert, tenor Frederic Anspach was (1908-1977) attention to the young singer. He then became a student at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, where he developed his vocal range in the bass. In 1960 he was awarded a first contract at the Brussels opera house La Monnaie / De Munt. Later he became the successor of Anspach as head of the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and took a singing class.

After he was 1962 winner of the ninth International Vocal Competition 's- Hertogenbosch, he gave concerts in London under the direction of conductor Colin Davis and recited a rich repertoire of pieces by Hector Berlioz. After that, he had numerous appearances in various opera houses, large concert oratorios and recitals. His stage presence, his diction, his physique, his rare knowledge of poetry meant that he had global engagements and guest appearances.

Wide notoriety he achieved through performances in operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but also by the appearance of the " Baron Ochs " in a production of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss from 1962 and as a " Grand Inquisitor " in Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos. His success also contributed to recordings in case such as La Périchole by Jacques Offenbach and Le prophète by Giacomo Meyerbeer.

He had more success in La Damnation de Faust, Roméo et Juliette and Benvenuto Cellini by Berlioz. During his many years of dedication at the Brussels Opera and other opera houses in Europe and the U.S., he has sung under the baton of conductors such as Pierre Boulez and Herbert von Karajan.

In the 2005 TV address, Les plus grands Belges ( The largest Belgian ) of the RTBF he was voted number 75.