Maurice Hémery

Hémery was a member of the Grand Théâtre in Bordeaux, obviously from autumn 1943 onwards; his first roles were Pinkerton and Gérald. The music critic of Bordeaux newspaper Le Progrès was not quite convinced of his Pinkerton, but liked his Gérald, saying that he had a very pretty voice, beautiful colored and free, and that it had been obvious that he tried hard to be up to his stage partner, the excellent Renée Doria, and to satisfy the audience; and finally, that he, the critic, was sure that through hard word, Hémery would deliver an excellent season. Well, management and audience must have judged that season favorably in the end, because he stayed on, at least until 1948. Another role that he obviously sang in Bordeaux was Alfredo; at least, he sang the first act from Traviata during a gala concert in May 1945.

He also sang regularly in Toulon as a guest: in a first act from Bohème during another gala concert in August 1944, he was Rodolfo; in the 1944/45 season, Vincent in Mireille; in March and April 1948, Toinet in Le chemineau by Leroux; again in April 1948, Nicias in Thaïs; and in January 1949, Nadir.

Since all references to him are from the period 1943 to 1949, I guess his career cannot have been very long.

Reference 1: Le Progrès, 9 October 1943; reference 2

I wish to thank Christian Torrent for the broadsides.