Armand Crabbé

Armand Charles Crabbé was a Belgian baritone born and died in Brussels, in 1883 and 1947 respectively. For much of his career he sang under the stage name Charles Morin when performing supporting roles. He trained in Brussels and in Milan, where he studied with Cottone.

He made his debut at La Monnaie in Brussels in 1904 as the Night Watchman in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Between 1906 and 1914 he was a member of the Covent Garden company in London, singing roles such as Valentin, Alfio, Silvio and Ford, and he returned in 1937 to sing Gianni Schicchi. At La Scala in Milan he performed Rigoletto, Marcello, Beckmesser and Lescaut, and he created the title role in Giordano's Il re in 1929. In 1907 he joined Hammerstein's Manhattan Opera, sang in Chicago between 1910 and 1914, and in the 1920s appeared at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

One of his most celebrated roles was Mârouf, which Rabaud transposed for him from tenor to baritone. He continued singing into the early 1940s, mainly in Antwerp. As a teacher he published Conseils sur l'art du chant (1931) and L'art d'Orphée (1933). His recordings reveal a forward-placed voice and precise diction, characteristic of the French school.