Jacques Bouhy

Jacques-Joseph-André Bouhy (Pepinster, 1848 – Paris, 1929) was a Belgian baritone who spent much of his career in Paris, also working as a singing teacher. His career spanned some of the most important opera stages in late nineteenth-century France, and his name is associated with several significant premieres of the period.

He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Liège and then in Paris, where he made his debut at the Opéra in 1871 as Méphistophélès in Faust. At the Opéra-Comique he was the first Figaro of his career and, in 1872, he created the title role in Massenet's Don César de Bazan. He also took part in the premiere of Carmen in 1875, singing Escamillo, and in the premieres of Massé's Paul et Virginie and Salvayre's Le bravo at the Théâtre-Lyrique. After returning to the Opéra, he performed in St Petersburg and at Covent Garden, and spent several years in the United States, where he founded and directed the National Conservatory of Music of New York. Back in Paris, he sang the role of the High Priest in the first staged performance of Samson et Dalila in the French capital.

Massenet is reported to have praised his voice early in his career, and his performance of the Toreador Song was always greeted with great applause, even at the troubled premiere of Carmen. His legacy rests chiefly on his presence in the early years of several works that are now considered classics of the French repertoire.