Biography
Henri Legay (July 1, 1920 – September 16, 1992) was a French operatic tenor.
He was primarily French-based as his light lyric voice was especially suited to the French operatic repertoire.
Born in Paris, he won First Prize at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1947, and began his career singing operetta. He made his operatic début at La Monnaie in Brussels in 1950, also appearing in Lausanne.
He began a long association with the Opéra-Comique in 1952, as Gérald in Lakmé, quickly establishing himself as one of the leading tenors of his time, other roles included; Nadir, Meister, des Grieux, Julien, etc.
He made his debut at the Palais Garnier, as Damon in Les Indes galantes, other roles there included; Faust, Werther, Almaviva, Duke of Mantua, Alfredo, etc.
He left a few recordings, Les pêcheurs de perles, Le roi d'Ys, and most notably Manon, opposite Victoria de los Ángeles and conducted by Pierre Monteux, widely regarded as the definitive recording of Massenet's opera.
Along with such mid-twentieth century tenors as Alain Vanzo and Léopold Simoneau, Legay represented a lost style of French operatic singing.
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