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Léon Escalaïs (1859-1940) was an extraordinary example of the old French school fort-ténor. Born Léonce Antoine Escalaïs in Cuxac-d’Aude in the south of France, the future opera star discovered an affinity for singing as a child. By the age of 15, Escalaïs was serenading customers while working in his father’s café, as well as singing morning, noon and night in the streets of Cuxac-d’Aude. In later years, the tenor recalled that this habit led the mayor to issue a musical curfew for the teen! At 18, Escalaïs began his musical studies at the Conservatory in Toulouse. After completing his training in Paris, Escalaïs made his debut as Belezès in the premiere of Victor-Alphonse Duvernoy’s Sardanapale at Paris’ Théâtre du Château-d’Eau (as part of the famed Concerts Lamoureux) on December 3, 1882. Although his small role was confined to a single scene at the end of Act I, Escalaïs made an astounding impression. The Opéra de Paris took immediate notice and engaged the 23-year-old tenor for their upcoming season. Escalaïs made his official debut with the company on August 12 of the following year in what would become his signature role, Arnold in Guillaume Tell. He remained a mainstay with the company for nearly a decade, leaving after a dispute with management in 1892. During this period, Escalaïs made debuts with the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels and Milan’s La Scala, as well as theaters in Dijon, Lyon and Marseille. Standing barely five feet in height, the tenor cut a less than heroic figure onstage. Reviewers described him as “dwarfish”, “stumpy”, “ridiculous”, “ungainly” and his bowed legs were compared to those of a basset hound. Possibly the cruelest of all was an 1883 wire story that described the tenor as “…phenomenally as a barrel, with a fat, unmeaning face and hair that stands like bristles all over his head.” Despite such unflattering remarks, Escalaïs persevered, his magnificent voice triumphing over his physical shortcomings. The tenor proved quite effective as Manrico in Il Trovatore, Eléazar in La Juive, Vasco da Gama in L’Africaine, Jean in Le Prophète, Raoul in Les Huguenots, Zarastra in Le Mage, Jean in Hériodade and the title roles in Polyeucte, Robert le Diable and Sigurd. Even with such prodigious vocal gifts, Escalaïs left some critics unimpressed as Lusignan in Zaïre, a role he created at the Opéra in 1890. A correspondent from London’s The Era bluntly stated that, “M. Escalais has been condemned by the composer to scream at the top of his voice from end to end, an ordeal that must be as trying to the artist as it is disagreeable to his hearers.” Fortunately, the majority of the tenor’s appearances were greatly admired by critics and public alike. Escalaïs traveled to the U.S. for a series of performances with New Orleans’ French Opera during the 1909/10 season. His repertoire was confined to four roles…Manrico, Elèazar, Jean of Leyden and, of course, Arnold. A review from the New Orleans Times-Democrat (November 29, 1909) remarked on the tenor’s amazing feat of singing “Di quella pira” (in French, of course) six times, for a total of 18 high Cs! Escalaïs so loved (and was so loved by) the American public, that he learned the famous cabaletta in English, using that version as a final encore in some performances. During his one and only touring season with the company, the tenor astounded audiences in Buffalo, Cincinnati, Kansas City, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Washington D. C. and, of course, New Orleans. The previous season, Escalaïs managed to patch up his differences with the Opéra, returning to the company as Radames in Aïda. He remained with the company for the next few years, retiring from the stage at the end of the 1911/12 season. The tenor spent much of his time teaching from his Paris studio, counting José Luccioni and Riccardo Martin among his pupils. The French government awarded him the Légion d'Honneur for his services to music in 1927. When war broke out in 1939, Escalaïs returned to town of his birth, Cuxac-d’Aude where he died on August 25, 1940 (not 1941, as is often reported), just two and a half weeks after his 81st birthday. Léon Escalaïs enjoyed a thirty-year career that took him to major (and not so major) theaters in France, Italy, Belgium, England, Austria, The Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, Algeria, Greece, Tunisia, Egypt, Canada and the U. S. He possessed a voice of remarkable power and range, with a brilliant top that easily reached D above high C. Although he retired from the stage in his early 50s, his students reported that the tenor’s voice remained intact until a few days before his death. Luckily, that tremendous voice is preserved on some three dozen recordings he made in Milan for the Fonotipia company in 1905 and 1906.
