Van Dyck, Ernest (1861 - 1923)

Belgian dramatic tenor

Ernest Van Dyck in Parsifal from Wagner (Motisi collection)

Ernest Van Dyck made his debut at the Concerts Lamoureux in Paris in the first act of Tristan et Iseult by Wagner. Five years of success followed in contemporary German and French Repertoires : Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust , Reyer's Sigurd, Wagner's La Walkyrie , Goldschmidt's Les Sept péchés capitaux and the premiere of Vincent d'Indy's Chant de la Cloche, in which he created the role of Wilhelm on January 25, 1886.

His interpretation of the title role in Charles Nuitter's French version of Lohengrin on April 30, 1887, earned him an invitation to Bayreuth to sing Parsifal. He was to return every year until 1911, becoming the Wagnerian tenor par excellence.

Engaged by the Vienna Opera from the late 1880s, Van Dyck also excelled in the roles of French Repertoire : Faust Romeo and Juliet, Manon, and Werther by Jules Massenet, which he premiered on February 16, 1892 in Kalbeck's German version.

After retiring from the stage in 1912, he became impresario to German artists in the United States.

Discover the artist's world through various documents: each image opens the door to one of his interpretations, his portraits in civilian clothes, his autographs or press articles about him from the period