Antoine Cazaux
also Jean Cazaux
Antoine Cazaux was a French bass-baritone who sang at the Grand-Théâtre de Lyon until the Paris Opéra poached him. He made his debut there as Guillaume Tell on 11 August 1858. Contemporaries could not agree whether he was a baritone or a bass, and he held the whole repertoire: Saint-Bris in Les Huguenots, Balthazar in La favorite, and the Landgrave in the 1861 Tannhäuser. He created the title role of Boulanger's Le docteur Magnus in 1864, left the Opéra in 1866 and created Frère Laurent in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette the year after.
Creations
- Le Landgrave Hermann — Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg (Paris, 1861)
Written from
- Gazette des Tribunaux (1858) 11 August, no. 9785, 'Spectacles'. (Accessed: 2 September 2026). A same-day listing, so it dates the debut to 11 August 1858. Desarbres, writing a decade later, gives 1859.
- d'Ortigue, J. (1864) 'Le Docteur Magnus', Journal des Débats, 20 March, pp. 1-2. (Accessed: 2 September 2026). Reviewing the premiere of 9 March 1864, and the source for the role: Cazaux was "chargé du rôle principal".
- Desarbres, N. (1868) Deux siècles à l'Opéra. Paris: Dentu, p. 104. (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
- Le Ménestrel (1866) 4 March. (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
- Holoman, D.K. (n.d.) Société des Concerts du Conservatoire: personnel, C. (Accessed: 2 September 2026). Gives the forename Antoine, and his membership as 27 November 1860 to 1862.
- Les Archives du Spectacle (n.d.) Antoine Cazaux. (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
- artlyrique.fr (n.d.) Opéra: chanteurs, quoting Rambaud, Y. and Coulon, E. (1866) Les Théâtres en robe de chambre: Opéra. (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
- Université de Poitiers (n.d.) Roméo et Juliette: creation cast. (Accessed: 2 September 2026). Names the creator of Frère Laurent as Jean Cazaux. Les Archives du Spectacle lists the same creation under Antoine, which is the forename his Société des Concerts membership also gives.