Paul Franz (1876-1950) was the preeminent French Heldentenor during the early decades of the 20th century. Born Franz Gauthier in Paris, he initially earned a living as a railroad worker. Although he possessed a fine voice and enjoyed participating in amateur community concerts as a baritone, the young man never gave any serious consideration to a career on the stage. Around 1907, Franz caught the attention of celebrated tenor and teacher Louis-Achille Delaquerrière (1856-1937), who saw the budding singer’s potential. The veteran tenor encouraged Franz to begin vocal studies and helped him to make the transition from baritone to dramatic tenor. Having adopted the name Paul Franz to avoid confusion with popular Opéra-Comique tenor Jules Gautier, Franz entered a competition for amateur tenors sponsored by a Paris newspaper. The contest, organized during the spring of 1908, weeded out some 500 hopefuls and eventually showcased 25 young singers. So impressive was Franz that he was the only contestant mentioned by his full name in New Music Review’s assessment of the competition. In fact, Franz was so impressive that he was denied the top prize! As an unnamed correspondent for the Review reported, “Although the first prize was given to M. Falandry, the public would have preferred to see it awarded to another artist, M. Paul Franz, who sang ‘La Juive’ in masterly style. But the majority of the jury were of the opinion that M. Franz showed too much musical science, and handled his voice in too finished a manner to be considered a simple amateur, and therefore he was placed hors concours.” Although he lost out on top prize due to a technicality, Franz was awarded a full scholarship to the National Conservatory of Paris. Obviously, Franz had already developed healthy vocal habits and his months at the Conservatory were devoted to putting the finishing touches on his technique. Upon completion of his studies, Franz began auditioning for assorted companies in the French provinces. His debut took place in Nantes on February 1, 1909 as Lohengrin. Audiences and critics alike were in agreement that the debutant tenor had a bright future ahead. Not surprisingly, the artistic staff of the Opéra de Paris had caught wind of the 32-year-old tenor and offered him a contract for the upcoming season. Franz quickly established himself as Paris’ leading dramatic tenor. Although there were appearances abroad…Milan’s La Scala, the Opéra in Monte Carlo, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and, most notably, London’s Covent Garden, where he appeared regularly from 1910 to 1914…Franz considered Paris his artistic home and spent three decades at the Opéra. His repertoire was impressive, including the leads in such works as Roméo et Juliette, Faust, Samson et Dalila, Les Troyens, Thaïs, Les Huguenots, Carmen, Louise, La Juive, Sigurd, Le Prophète, Le Cid, Aïda, Otello, Parsifal, Die Meistersinger, Götterdämmerung, Siegfried, Die Walküre, Das Rheingold, Tristan und Isolde and Tannhäuser. As he passed the age of sixty, Franz’s vocal resources were still amazingly intact and his popularity was undiminished. He seemed destined to continue his schedule of appearances indefinitely. However, the veteran tenor decided to pass the torch to younger tenors and retired from the stage in 1938. He accepted a position on the faculty of the National Conservatory of Paris, where he spent the final decade of his life. Paul Franz passed away in Paris on April 20, 1950 at the age of 73. Paul Franz made dozens of recordings for Pathé, Columbia and . between 1910 and 1933.
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