Louis Orliac used to be the ultimate mystery tenor; all that was known about his biography was that he
came from Toulouse. Which is sorely incongruous with the quality of his recordings: he is one of the most spectacular tenors ever on
record. Meanwhile, thanks to the ongoing digitization of ever more newspapers made available by public libraries, at least a dim light
can be shed on Orliac's career.
He came out in late November 1931 at the Concours d'Honneur – a mixed singing competition in Pau, "mixed" because for opera singers,
folk singers, comedians and choirs alike. He was one of the prize winners, and a favorite with the numerous audience.
Incredible as it must seem for anybody who has heard one of his (few) recordings or has read one of the uniformly enthusiastic newspaper
reviews on his discs or his concerts – Orliac obviously never sang on any operatic stage (press allegations to his "triumphs" in
Milano and Brussels were certainly marketing poetry). In reality, he was a music hall tenor: first at the Empire in Paris (already from
1932), and then at the Alcazar in Marseille, where he appeared every June from 1935 to 1937. He was marketed as "le nouveau Caruso" or
"le Caruso du music-hall". His handful of recordings were made in January 1933 in Paris, and got excellent press reviews, too (although
nobody has ever seen his third disc, the one with the songs).
He also sang in three much-apprehended operatic concerts (two of them charity concerts) in Bayonne: in July 1932, in May and September
1933; and at the Fêtes de Toulouse in July 1934, a music festival organized by Radio-Toulouse. And that would seem to be
all; no further mentions of Orliac after June 1937, which means: after just five-and-a-half years of public singing...
References:
- L'Ami du Peuple du Soir, 30 April 1933
- La Dépêche, 3 July 1932
- L'Écho d'Alger, 16 & 30 August 1933
- Excelsior, 8 July 1934
- Gazette de Bayonne, de Biarritz et du Pays Basque, 6 & 9 May & 4 September 1933
- L'Indépendant des Basses-Pyrénées, 1 December 1931
- Le Petit Marseillais, 3 June 1935 & 16 June 1937
- Le Petit Parisien, 1 August 1933
- Le Petit Provençal, 24 June 1936
- Le Radical de Marseille, 2, 4 & 5 June 1935, 24 June 1936, 15 & 16 June 1937