Jean Caujolle is one of the countless ill-documented French opera singers – which is quite surprising
in his particular case, since his career was certainly, though limited to the French-speaking countries, first rate.
A native of Maoussa, Algeria (and part of France at the time), he was a heroic tenor and specialized in just a handful of roles:
Arnold, Vasco da Gama, Jean, Manrico, Éléazar, Raoul, Enzo Grimaldo; later on, he would add Sigurd, Canio,
Werther, Don José, Turiddu. In the 1930s, he sang throughout France,
always billed as "M. Jean Caujolle de l'Opéra" – although Wolff does not list him in his book on the Opéra,
just in the twin volume on the Opéra-Comique (where Caujolle made his debut in 1949 as Turiddu).
Caujolle's most important role by far was Arnold, he sang it surprisingly often; all his Arnold performances traced so
far can be found here.
Other than that, I found him as...
Vasco
- in Marseille on 27 November 1932
- at La Monnaie in Brussels in 1935, 1938 and 1939
Raoul
- in Bordeaux in October 1934 as well as in October 1935
- in Toulouse on 16 October 1935
Jean
- in Marseille on 22 December 1932
- in Amiens in October 1934
- in Pau on 20 December 1942
- in Avignon on 25 December 1942
- in Constantine on 11 and 12 January 1947
Manrico
- in Marseille on 2 January 1933
- at La Monnaie in Brussels in 1939
Enzo Grimaldo
- at La Monnaie from 14 February 1939 (8 performances)
Éléazar
- in Toulouse on 18 March 1934
- in Brest on 29 May 1935 as well as on 19 May 1938
- in Casablanca on 1, 3, 4 and 6 May 1947
- in Constantine on 29 and 30 November 1947
Sigurd
- in Bordeaux in January 1942
Werther
- in Pau on 7 February 1943
- in Constantine on 25 and 26 January 1947
Don José
- in Constantine on 16 January 1947
Canio
- in Constantine on 23 November 1947
Which makes for lots of performances most everywhere in the French speaking world; but I couldn't trace a single appearance at
the Paris Opéra. And yet most every broadside used to say "Caujolle de l'Opéra"... strange indeed. Where he
definitely was a member in the 1930s was the Opéra de Marseille, and he was also closely connected with Nice and Toulon.
After World War II, he sang a lot in Algeria (where he came from) and Morocco. For the 1947/48 season, he even acted as the
director of the opera theater in Constantine – a season that was cut short in late January, when director Caujolle was
found missing... and eventually found in lockup: he had been arrested for check fraud.
Some reviews throughout his career express certain reservations about his vocality; with all due caution, one might conclude
that his voice was superior to his singing technique, and that he was time and again vocally somewhat exhausted. But he must
certainly have had power, stamina, and secure top notes.
Reference 1: Le Petit Marseillais, 26 November 1932; reference 2: La Petite Gironde, 17 October 1935; reference
3: Le Progrès de la Somme, 10 October 1934; reference 4: Le Petit Marseillais, 30 December 1932; reference 5: Le Petit
Provençal, 20 December 1932; reference 6: La Dépêche de Brest, 27 May 1935; reference 7: La France de
Bordeaux et du Sud-Ouest, 18 October 1934; reference 8: Comoedia, 20 October 1935; reference 9: Comoedia, 31 January 1942;
reference 10: L'Express du Midi, 17 March 1934; reference 11: L'Express du Midi, 8 October 1935; reference 12; reference 13: La Monnaie archives; reference 14; reference 15: La Bretagne, 19 May 1938; reference 16:
L'Indépendent des Basses-Pyrénées, 16 December 1942; reference 17: L'éclair, 10 October 1934;
reference 18: Le Petit Marocain, 3 and 6 May 1947; reference 19: Casa cité, 11 May 1947; reference 20: Le Patriote des
Pyrénées, 19 December 1942; reference 21: Le Patriote des Pyrénées, 5 February 1943; reference 22:
La Vigie Marocaine, 28 April 1947; reference 23: La Dépêche de Constantine, 9, 16 and 22 January 1947; reference
24: La Dépêche de Constantine, 20, 21 and 26 November 1947; reference 25: La Chronique Mondaine, 29 September 1934;
reference 26: Oran-Matin, 8 January 1936; reference 27: Le Petit Marocain, 25 January 1948; reference 28
