Legros, haute-contre de Gluck

Tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen concludes his trilogy dedicated to hautes-contre with "Legros, Gluck's haute-contre". Joseph Legros (1739-1793) was a singer at the Paris Opera, renowned for his extraordinary musical abilities, wide range and brilliant high notes. "His contemporaries appreciated the fact that his vocal delivery was not forced and that his taste was less mannered than that of his predecessors. His pronunciation was perfect and his face pleasing, although he did not cut a graceful figure and his stage acting left something to be desired" writes Benoit Dratwicki, of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, which is a partner in this series... Legros sparked renewed interest among modern composers for the haute-contre voice. The first to write for him were La Borde, Trial and Berton. Then came Gossec (Alexis et Daphne) and Gretry (Cephale et Procris). In 1774, Gluck's arrival in Paris marked a turning point in Legros's career: he made a name for himself in Orphee et Eurydice, caused a sensation in Iphigenie en Aulide and Iphigenie en Tauride... The title roles in Amadis de Gaule by J. C. Bach and Piccinni's Atys were the last roles in which he shone. After Legros, the haute-contre voice gradually disappeared, giving way to that of the "true tenor", a more powerful voice, but one that had difficulty tackling the high register of the old repertoire...