Wilfrid Pelletier

Joseph Louis Wilfrid Pelletier, CC ( born June 20, 1896 in Montreal, † April 9, 1982 in New York) was a Canadian conductor and pianist.

Career

Wilfrid Pelletier studied from 1904 to 1914 piano, solfeggio and harmony with François Héraly. Age of twelve, he joined as the drummer of the chapel of St- Pierre- Apôtreauf. In 1910 he became the pianist at the National Theatre of Montreal. With the assistance of Henri Delcellier he was from 1911 to 1913 répétiteur the Montreal Opera Company.

After studying with Alexis Contant and Alfred La Liberté, he won a 1915 Prix d'Europe. In 1916 he went to Paris, where he studied with Isidor Philipp, Marcel Samuel -Rousseau, Charles- Marie Widor and Camille Bellaigue.

Because of the war he had to leave France in 1917 and settled in New York. Here he was a coach at the Metropolitan Opera and had the opportunity to work with singers such as Enrico Caruso, Geraldine Farrar, Léon Rothier and Grace Moore. At the same time, he began to walk with the Company of the Italian singer Antonio Scotti on tour. On one of these trips he conducted in 1920 for the first time a complete opera.

In 1922 he became conductor at the Metropolitan Opera and conducted there for the first time one of the Sunday concerts, artistic director he was two years later. In the same year he was hired by the Ravinia Park Opera Company in Chicago for the summer season and from the San Francisco Opera. From 1929 to 1950 he was a regular conductor of the Metropolitan Opera. Since 1936, he headed the Opera Auditions of the Air, a radio competition for young opera singers.

In 1934, Pelletier artistic director of the Société des concerts symphoniques de Montréal ( Montreal Symphony Orchestra ). The following year, he opened with the orchestra the Matinées symphoniques pour la jeunesse (since 1937, Young People's concerts ). Another of his projects were the Montreal festival, which he opened with Bach's St. Matthew Passion in 1936. In 1941 he founded the Conservatoire de musique du Québec, whose director he was until 1961.

From 1951 to 1966 Pelletier was Artistic Director of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. He also directed the children's concerts of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. In 1963 he initiated together with Zubin Mehta, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at the opening of the Great Hall of the Place des Arts, which was named after him in 1966 Salle Wilfrid- Pelletier. In the foyer of the hall is a bronze bust by sculptor Arto Tchakmaktchian Pelletier in 1984 erected.

Pelletier is one of the founding members of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, he was president of the Jeunesse Musicales du Canada and conducted the opening concert of the Grand Theatre of Quebec. He had his last public appearance at the concert, which was held in his honor in 1978 in Montreal.

Works

Pelletier took on record with the singers Rose Bampton, Richard Crooks, Beniamino Gigli, Igor Gorin, Giovanni Martinelli, James Melton, Grace Moore Jan Peerce, Bidú Sayão, Gladys Swarthout, Lawrence Tibbett and Leonard Warren. In the 1940s, commissioned by the New York National Committee for Music Appreciation created a series of recordings from operas such as Aida, La Bohème, Carmen, Faust, I Pagliacci, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Tannhäuser, La Traviata and Simon Boccanegra with the singers Metropolitan Opera, including with the Canadians Raoul Jobin and Joan Peebles. In the 1920s he played a piano scores of operas Bizet, Gounod, Massenet, Offenbach's and Wolf- Ferrari's on Ampico piano rolls.

In addition, Pelletier wrote articles for music magazines, including for Vie musicale, which he headed 1965-1967 and published in 1972, the autobiography Une symphonie inachevée ....

Awards

Pelletier has received numerous awards for his work. In 1946 he became a Knight of the Order of the King of Denmark and a Companion of St Michael and St George, in the following year, Knights of the Legion of Honour. In 1962 he was awarded the Canada Council Medal in 1964 and the silver medal Bene Merenti Patria de St -Jean -Baptiste Society of Montreal. He was Companion of the Order of Canada, received an honorary diploma from the Canadian Conference of the Arts, an award from the Concert Society of the Jewish People's Schools and Peretz Schools and the Medal of the Canadian Music Council. Furthermore him eight honorary doctorates were awarded. In Montreal in 1958 a road and 1965, the Music School of the Sisters of Ste- Anne was named after him.

  • Classic pianist
  • Conductor
  • Companion of the Order of Canada
  • Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
  • Member of the Legion of Honour ( Knight )
  • Canadian
  • Born 1896
  • Died in 1982
  • Man
Claude Champagne Marcel Samuel-Rousseau Charles-Marie Widor Georges Bizet Jules Massenet Jacques Offenbach Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari American Piano Company Integrated Authority File
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