After vocal studies at the conservatory in Bordeaux, he had his first contract in Béziers in winter 1892/93: he sang Fernand,
Manrico, Raoul, Vasco da Gama. In 1893, he was engaged in Reims, and in fall already joined the troupe of the Grand-Théâtre
in Bordeaux, plus he sang another successful Raoul in Béziers.
In 1894/95, he was a member of the Grand-Théâtre in Montpellier (singing Arnold, Fernand, Éléazar, Vasco da
Gama, Manrico, very successfully, or Robert le diable, as which latter he was booed, whereupon he complained bitterly, and threatened to
cancel his contract). In 1895/96, he belonged to the Lyon opera theater, where he made his debut as Rodrigue in Le Cid; as a guest,
he also appeared in Geneva in November 1895 as Raoul and Manrico (which latter earned him a devastating review in the "Journal de
Genève": "annoying coldness and impassivity", "mediocre and lackluster voice", "his intonation leaves much to be desired", "memory
lapses", "spares himself too much in the ensembles"). In April 1896, he made his debut at the Grand-Théâtre in Marseille as
Samson, and also sang Raoul alongside Félia Litvinne. From September 1896, he had a contract at the Opéra in Algiers.
In early January 1897, Moisson was in Marseille again, this time as Vasco da Gama. In September of the same
year, he replaced Georges Imbart de la Tour as Gounod's Faust at La Monnaie
in Brussels, but was sorely unsuccessful, and in turn replaced by Émile Cossira. Moisson
did have success, though, at La Monnaie that fall: as Raoul.
In 1898/99, he was a member of the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, singing Vasco da Gama and Raoul, among others.
September 1899 found him in Paris, singing a very successful Lyonel at the Théâtre Lyrique de la Renaissance. He stayed with
that theater for two seasons, singing also Marcello in Leoncavallo's Bohème and Walter in L'hôte by Edmond
Missa (no success for Moisson), as well as appearing in La reine de Saba and Oberon (!). As far as guest appearances, he had
good success as Vasco da Gama and Éléazar in Troyes in May 1900; in June, he appeared in Brest, in November in Roubaix and
Lille as Éléazar, and in December at the Opéra Populaire in Paris, again in La reine de Saba.
He spent the 1901/02 and 1902/03 seasons in Den Haag (where he scored a success in de Lara's Messaline); for the rest of 1903, he
went to the Casino de la Villa des Fleurs in Aix-les-Bains in summer, then to Rouen, where he sang Vasco da Gama at the
Théâtre des Arts, and finally to La Monnaie again.
In 1904, he was in Rouen again in February for Gomez in Saint-Saëns' Henri VIII (with good success), and then belonged to the
troupe of the spring opera season in Le Havre.
In early 1905, he sang Jean in Hérodiade at La Monnaie; for the Easter season, he was in Montpellier. In the season 1905/06,
he belonged to the troupe of the Théâtre des Arts; the opening night on 6 October with Les huguenots was such
a scandal (also, but not only because of Moisson) that it was still remembered in Rouen some 25 years later.
For the Easter season 1906, he had a contract in Saint-Étienne. Then he would seem to have interrupted his career for almost two
years: I didn't find any reviews or announcements regarding Moisson for that entire period.
In February 1908, he returned to Lyon, replacing an overchallenged tenor in Messaline. In December of the same year, he sang Jean
de Leyde at the Jardin d'Acclimatation, a leisure park on the periphery of Paris.
February 1909 found him in Nancy as Duca di Mantova and Fernand; in March, he sang Arnold in Dijon; in May, Faust in Troyes. In early
1910, he returned to the Grand-Théâtre in Bordeaux and sang Raoul, Éléazar and Vasco da Gama. In winter
1910/11, he had a contract in Avignon, where he was well-liked, particularly as Manrico and as Samson. In May 1911, he sang one single
Jean in Hérodiade in Tours.
From December 1911 to February 1912, he was in Lille for L'Africaine, Hérodiade and Samson et Dalila; he was
re-engaged in November 1913, both for Vasco da Gama (this time together with Jean Noté) and for Jean. Early in 1913,
he even returned to the Théâtre des Arts in Rouen and in a strange mixed program that comprised from Lully's
Thésée but the prologue, he sang Bacchus, this time with very good success; in February 1913, he appeared as Lohengrin
and Samson in Angers.
In that period, 1912/13, he earned only good reviews, actually better ones than ever before; and yet, those were his final appearances on
stage. From November 1913, we have another gap in the Moisson chronology: of almost four years, this time.
He resurfaced for another two years, regularly appearing in operatic concerts at cinemas: in Chartres in September 1917 and April
1918, in Tours in September 1917, March 1918 and February 1919, in Vendôme in March 1918, in Angers in March 1918 and December 1919
or in Alençon in June 1919. Then he disappeared from public radar for good.
Moisson was pretty well-recorded, although it's now more than difficult to find any of his recordings – he made at least 50 cylinders
for Bettini in 1900 and/or 1901, and one for Pathé in 1898.
References:
- Les Alpes Pittoresques, 15 July 1903 (which is also the source for the picture)
- L'Art Lyrique et le Music-Hall, 11 December 1898
- Comoedia, 2 February 1908, 9 December 1908, 4 January 1910 & 14 November 1913
- La Coulisse, 8 January 1894 & 10 December 1898
- La Dépêche d'Eure-et-Loir, 23 September 1917 & 14 April 1918
- L'Écho Théâtral, October 1905
- L'Éclair, 14 September 1894, 15 March 1905 & 27 November 1910
- L'Est Républicain, 7 & 13 February 1909
- L'Europe Artiste, 7 January 1893
- L'Éventail, 5 September 1897
- La France de Bordeaux et du Sud-Ouest, 30 April 1894, 18 & 26 February 1910
- La Gazette de Biarritz-Bayonne et Saint-Jean-de-Luz, 5 November 1897
- La Gironde, 1 July 1893
- Le Grand Écho du Nord de la France, 8 November 1900, 17 December 1911, 19 January & 8 February 1912, 17 November 1913
- L'Indépendant Rémois, 21 October 1893
- Le Journal, 24 December 1899
- Journal Amusant, 30 December 1899
- Le Journal de Brest, 1 June 1900
- Journal de Genève, 28 November 1895
- Journal de Roubaix, 8 November 1900
- Le Ménestrel, 5 & 19 September 1897
- Le Midi, 28 April 1906
- Le Mistral, 30 November 1910
- Le Monde Artiste, 25 October 1903 & 14 February 1904
- L'Ouest-Éclair, 30 May 1919
- Le Passe-Temps et le Parterre Réunis, 3 November 1895, 10 May 1903 & 5 November 1905
- Le Petit Bourguignon, 6 March 1909
- Le Petit Courrier, 22 & 25 February 1913, 5 March 1918, 10 December 1919
- La Petite Gironde, 1 January 1910
- Le Petit Journal, 20 September 1899
- Le Petit Marseillais, 19 & 26 April 1896
- Le Petit Républicain de l'Aube, 26 & 31 May 1900
- Le Progrès de Loir-et-Cher, 1 March 1918
- La République du Midi, 28 November 1893
- Revue Comique Normande, 9 April 1904
- Revue Française de Musique, 1 February 1913
- Rouen Gazette, 24 October 1925 & 4 October 1930
- Le Salut Public, 7 November 1895
- La Semaine Mondaine, 8 February 1911
- Le Sémaphore de Marseille, 3 January 1897
- La Tribune de l'Aube, 20 May 1909
- L'Union Libérale, 20 May 1911, 23 September 1917, 28 February 1918 & 5 February 1919
- La Vie Montpelliéraine, 23 September, 7 October & 2 December 1894, 10 November 1895, 13 September 1896, 16 December 1900
