DESCRIPTION:
Eugène de Creus (1880-1952) was a French lyric tenor whose lengthy career was mainly confined to the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Born Eugène Émile Mahieu in Lille, he began his working life as a soldier, playing in the Regimental Band of the 28th Infantry. Although the evidence of his recordings reveals that de Creus was an accomplished musician with a well defined technique, nothing much is known of his vocal studies or musical education. It is known that by the time he reached his early 20s, the young tenor was making concert and recital appearances around Paris under the name Eugène Mahieu de Creus. In the fall of 1904, he was singing with a small touring company based in Valence. De Creus made his first stage appearance on October 15 of that same year as Duc della Volta in Offenbach’s comic opera La Fille du Tambour-major in Annonay. Local critics praised the tenor for his sweet voice and fine acting. Although he spent most of the season singing operettas such as Audran’s Gillette de Narbonne, Victor Roger’s Les Vingt-huit Jours de Clairette and Hervé’s Le Petit Faust, de Creus performed at least one opera during this period. Just a month before his 25th birthday (and still calling himself Eugène Mahieu de Creus), the tenor made his operatic debut in Annonay as Wilhelm Meister in Mignon on November 30, 1904.

By 1908, de Creus had moved to Antwerp with his wife and baby daughter (who grew up to be Eliane de Creus, the noted operetta soprano). He began working with the Théâtre Royal Français (now the Bourla Theater), where he sang a variety of roles, including Octave in Emile Jaques-Dalcroze’s Le Bonhomme Jadis, Léopold in Halévy’s La Juive, Sylvain in Aimé Maillart’s Les Dragons de Villars and Néron in Quo Vadis? by Nouguès. De Creus parted ways with the Théâtre Royal Français when the Opéra-Comique’s Albert Carré offered him a contract for the 1911/12 season. The tenor’s debut with the company came about on June 19, 1911, as Laërte in Hamlet. This began a quarter century association with the company, which saw de Creus singing over 60 diverse roles such as Daniel in Le Chalet, Spalanzani in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Remendado in Carmen, Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Vincent in Mireille, Tonio in La Fille du Régiment, Ramon in La Navarraise, the Poet Monk in Le Jongleur de Notre Dame, Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro, Beppe in Pagliacci, Spoletta in Tosca, Gastone in La Traviata, Juan in Don Quichotte, and Despréaux in Madame Sans-Gêne. The busy tenor also created roles in at least 20 world premieres, including Rufius in Noguès’ La Danseuse de Pompéi, Voice from the Abyss and the Officiant in Charpentier’s Julien, Chief Sailor and First Muezzin in Rabaud’s Mârouf, Molina in Erlanger’s La Sorcière, and the Gardener in Leoni’s Francesca da Rimini.

De Creus sang continuously with the Opéra-Comique until his farewell performance with the theater in 1935. He spent the next four years touring the provinces in operetta (frequently singing opposite his daughter, Eliane), finally leaving the stage for good in 1939 at the age of 59. Even in his retirement, de Creus remained a fixture with the Opéra-Comique, acting as a stage director for several years. Eugène de Creus passed away at his Paris home on January 14, 1952, just two weeks after his 72nd birthday.

As a contract player (to use the old cinema term) with the Opéra-Comique, Eugène de Creus seems to have been considered more of a commodity than a musical star…but what a valuable commodity he was. A glance at his many roles suggests that he could sing practically anything when called on to do so. He not only possessed a beautiful lyric voice of impressive range and flexibility, he also had the requisite acting and comedic skills to play any buffo role. De Creus was one of those rare artists who was able to glide seamlessly from leading to character roles throughout his career, including both Gérald and Hadji in Lakmé, as well as des Grieux, Bretigny and Guillot in Manon. He may also have been the only tenor in operatic history to sing Pinkerton, Goro and Yamadori in Madama Butterfly!

De Creus enjoyed a brief career in the recording studio. The majority of his recorded output…46 discs…was made for the Gramophone Company in Paris between 1912 and 1914. However, he returned to the recording studio twice, singing the role of Henri in the Gramophone Company’s complete set of Planquette’s Les Cloches de Corneville in 1920 and the role of Guillot in Columbia’s complete Manon in 1928/29. De Creus’ recordings showcase a fine lyric tenor that extends easily to high Bb (and beyond with the aid of mixed voice), exemplary musicianship and pristine diction. We also hear a style of singing that, alas, no longer seems to be present in the theaters of today. In this recording, de Creus gives a rousing performance of the drum major’s couplets, “Très bien? Bonjour, soldat, bonjour; De nos pas marquant la cadence” from Audran’s La Mascotte. This was recorded on December 16, 1913.