Every collector interested in light French music knows René Lenoty – though probably only the name, not
necessarily the voice. He participated in countless complete recordings of (mostly rare) operettas on the French radio O.R.T.F.
from the late 1940s into the 1970s, but typically in so tiny parts that you don't quite know what he sounded like.
But Lenoty was not exclusively a radio tenor; he also had a stage career, before World War II, and devoted to secondary roles in
operetta, as well. He took part in a lot of world premieres:
- 7 November 1926, Paris, Michodière: Le temps d'aimer by Reynaldo Hahn
- 15 October 1929, Paris, Ambigu: Olive by Pierre Chagnon and Fred Pearly
- 20 December 1929, Paris, Châtelet: French premiere of New moon by Sigmund Romberg (the French version came as
Robert le pirate)
- 20 September 1930, Paris, Scala: Six filles à marier by Raoul Moretti
- 28 December 1931, Paris, Trianon-Lyrique: Le roi du pourboire by Regina Patorni
- 20 February 1934, Paris, Trianon-Lyrique: Monsieur Papillon by Guy Lafarge (here, Lenoty had exceptionally the main role,
a character called Teddy)
- 12 April 1935, Nice, Casino de la Jetée-Promenade: Poil-Poil by Antoine Colo-Bonnet
Picture source 1 (young) and reference, picture source 2 (mature)
