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The Canadian bass, Joseph Alfred Pierre Rouleau, moved to Montréal and began taking voice lessons at the age of 17. Rouleau privately studied with Edouard J. Woolley and Albert Cornellier in Montreal and with Martial Singher at the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (1949-1952). He won the Prix Archambault in 1949 and was a semi-finalist in the CBC’s Singing Stars of Tomorrow (1950-1951). A concert tour of Eastern Canada with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada followed in 1951. He started entering amateur singing contests, which he invariably won. While competing for the Archambault Prize he met conductor Wilfrid Pelletier, who urged Rouleau to leave Brébeuf College, where he had been studying, and enter the Conservatoire de Montréal to begin a rigorous musical education. This led him to Milan, Italy, in 1952 for further training. From 1952 to 1954, with the help of a Québec government bursary, he studied in Milan under Mario Basiola and Antonio Narducci. By 1950, he had sung small roles with the Opéra National du Québec and the Minute Opera in Montreal. He sang Colline to Irene Salemka’s Mimi in the New Orleans Opera's La Bohème in 1955. He made his Opera Guild of Montreal debut in 1956 as Philip II in Don Carlos. He also appeared regularly in concert and on radio and television.
In 1955, Joseph Rouleau went to New York City to take part in a contest organized by the Experimental Opera Theatre of America. He was one of seven singers retained from a field of 250 with the prize being a series of engagements in New Orleans. He was cast in productions of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and La bohème, and upon returning to New York, he auditioned for the visiting director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, who offered him his first contract on the spot.
Joseph Rouleau spent his prime vocal years at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, beginning in 1957 when he debuted as Colline in Puccini's La bohème. In that first season, he also sang the Ghost of Hector in Berlioz's Les Troyens, Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore (Zinka Milanov was Leonora), Sarastro in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto, sharing the stage in the latter opera with fellow Canadian Richard Verreau (Duke of Mantua) and Joan Sutherland (Gilda). Joan Sutherland would be a frequent collaborator in the ensuing years: Rouleau made his Opéra de Paris debut in 1960 as Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with Joan Sutherland in the title role; together they toured Australia in 1965-1966, with a young Pavarotti joining some of their casts. At the conclusion of that season, Rouleau, Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne hit the studio to record Rossini's Semiramide with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Bonynge.
Joseph Rouleau's very first experience in the recording studio was with none other than soprano Maria Callas. He sang the role of Rochefort in her 1958 recording of the mad scene from Donizetti's Anna Bolena, later recalling that Callas insisted on singing it nine times until it was perfect. For the Canadian Opera Company, in the 1960's, he sang Basilio in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, Ramfis in Verdi's Aïda, and created the role of Bishop Taché in the world premiere of Harry Somers' Louis Riel. In the 1970's, the BBC engaged Rouleau to perform and record the role of Philippe II in the complete French version of Verdi's Don Carlos.
In 1984, Joseph Rouleau would make his long-overdue Metropolitan Opera debut in the Italian version of that same opera, but in a different role: he sang the Grand Inquisitor alongside Montserrat Caballé, Renato Bruson, Shirley Verrett and Jerome Hines. In 1985, back in London, he gave his final performance at Covent Garden, also as the Grand Inquisitor. In all, he sang in 850 performances there over nearly three decades. He returned to the Met in 1986 to share the stage with Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Pavarotti, Fiorenza Cossotto and fellow Canadian Louis Quilico in Verdi's Aïda.
Other notable roles that reveal Rouleau's range included Titurel in Wagner's Parsifal, Timur in Puccini's Turandot (which he sang in 1967 at Covent Garden alongside Birgit Nilsson and James McCracken), the title role in Massenet's Don Quichotte (of which he gave 55 performances over two seasons at Opéra de Paris), Mephistofeles in Charles Gounod's Faust, and both Pimen and the title role in Moussorgsky's Boris Godunov. The latter became a trademark for Rouleau, who fell in love with the Russian language. He sang it in Kazan, Russia, wearing the same costume as the role's most famous interpreter, Feodor Chaliapin. In February 1988, CBC/Radio-Canada broadcast his concert performance of Boris Godunov from Montreal's Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste.
While working in London, Joseph Rouleau met his wife, Renée, a dancer in the Royal Opera House's corps de ballet. In 1977, they relocated to Montréal where Rouleau began putting his charisma and experience to use advocating for young singers. He became a professor of voice at the Université du Québec à Montréal in 1980 and created the opera studio there. He was a key figure in the establishment of the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal and l'Opéra de Montréal.
In 1989, Joseph Rouleau accepted the presidency of Jeunesses Musicales Canada, a non-profit organization that encourages classical musicians at the beginning of their careers. He held that position for 25 years, well into his 80s. While at Jeunesses Musicales Canada, he and his friend André Bourbeau, a Québec politician and classical music lover, co-founded the Concours musical international de Montréal, an annual music competition that attracts young musicians from around the world to compete for a prestigious prize package. He was actively involved in fundraising and served on the jury each year the competition was for singers.
Naturally, a man of his accomplishments and longevity had accumulated many honours over the years. Joseph Rouleau was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1977 and later promoted to companion of the order. In 1999, he became an officer of the National Order of Quebec and was promoted to grand officer in 2004. He received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in 2004. He held honorary doctorates from McGill University and the Université du Québec à Rimouski. In his hometown of Matane, the Complexe culturel he was named in his honour.
Joseph Rouleau's discography includes Semiramide by Rossini, L’Enfance du Christ by Berlioz, Moussorgsky's Boris Godunov and an album entitled "Grands airs d’opéra français".
As a performing artist, Joseph Rouleau was known not only for his deeply resonant voice and compelling stage presence, but also as an affable and beloved colleague who never forgot his humble roots in his hometown of Matane, Québec. He died in Montréal at the age of 90. He is survived by his wife, Renée, and three children. |
