X-Nico

Pol Plançon

"The New York critic Huneker disliked his 'mincing gait' and complained of a 'lack of virility in his impersonations.' Whether this was fair comment or merely a Puritan critic's reaction to what was then hot gossip, is hard to know; it was widely rumoured that Plançon had been caught in his dressing room with the composer Herman Bemberg 'in flagrante delicto'." (See Michael Scott, The Record of Singing, published by Duckworth, London, 1978; page 84).

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During the winter of 1896–1897, the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury painted a portrait of him for the wealthy operetta composer Emma Marcy Raymond, which was subsequently exhibited in March 1897 at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in New York.

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English commentators were enthusiastic about his contribution to these premieres, as well as his singing in the standard repertory roles, including Rocco in Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio, Méphistophélès in Faust, Ramfis in Verdi's Aida, Pogner in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg or Jupiter in Gounod's Philémon et Baucis.

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His predecessors and contemporaries in this Gallic bel canto tradition included such celebrated artists as Henri-Bernard Dabadie, Nicolas Levasseur, Luigi Lablache, Prosper Dérivis, Paul Barroilhet, Jean-Baptiste Faure (see above), Victor Maurel, Jean Lassalle and Maurice Renaud.

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Pol Plançon was born in Fumay, in the Ardennes département of France, near the Belgian border.

Emma Marcy Raymond

During the winter of 1896–1897, she commissioned the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862–1947) to paint a portrait of the bass-baritone Pol Plançon for her, which was subsequently exhibited in March 1897 at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in New York.

see also