Gardes' parents ran a café, where he loved to sing already as a child. He studied voice with René Lapelletrie and spent his entire career in Paris, at the
Opéra and particularly at the Opéra-Comique, where he started as a chorister in 1950.
In 1954, he won a first prize as "ténor léger" at the "Concours de Cannes"; other laureates were Tony Poncet, Gustave Botiaux, Alain
Vanzo and Guy Chauvet. After that prize,
the Opéra-Comique promoted him to soloist (debut: 14 August 1954 as Rodolfo), and on 12 November of the same year, he
also made his debut at the Opéra as Damon in Rameau's Indes galantes (the two theaters were already under the
same management at that time).
Until 1971, he worked at both houses. At the Opéra-Comique, he sang Gérald, Lenskij, Almaviva, Nadir, Vincent,
Wilhelm Meister, Tybalt and Benedict (Béatrice et Benedict by Berlioz); at the Opéra, Cassio, Duca and
the Teapot in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges. He made guest appearances in several theaters of the French
provinces.
After his career, Gardes was longterm president of the Association of Opéra-Comique retirees.
Reference: Musica et Memoria
