Leon Melchissedec , Marie Daram & Henry Sellier by Benque

Melchissedec as Hadjar , Daram as Xaima & Sellier as Diaz in "La Tribute de Zamora" by Gounod CREATORS Palais Garnier Paris 1/4/1881

LEON MELCHISSEDEC
(Clermont Ferrand,)
7 May 1843-23 March 1925
French baritone
Studied with Alkan, Puget, Mocker and Levasseur at the Paris Conservatoire.Debut at the Paris Opéra-Comique on 16 July 1866 in Cohen's José Maria.He remained at the Opéra-Comique until 1877, His roles included Les Absents, Le premier jour de bonheur, Lalla-Roukh, Robinson Crusoé, Les dragons de Villars, Le pré aux clercs, Fantasio, Mireille, Richard Cœur de Lion and Le Caïd. In 1873 he became the first true baritone to sing the title role of Zampa .He went to the Théâtre-Lyrique, singing in Dimitri, Le capitaine Fracasse.] and the premieres of Paul et Virginie and Le timbre d’argent. In 1879 he joined the Paris Opéra, making his debut as Nevers in Les Huguenots on 17 November 1879. His repertoire there included Guillaume Tell, L'Africaine, La Favorite, Rigoletto, Faust, and he created roles in Le Tribut de Zamora, Tabarin, and Le Cid. Having sung Capulet in the first performance of Roméo et Juliette at the Opéra-Comique in 1873, he sang Mercutio when it transferred to the repertory of the Opéra. He left the Opéra in 1891 but rejoined from 1905–12, having become a professor of déclamation lyrique at the Paris Conservatoire in 1894.

MARIE JOSEPHINE DARAM
(Josephine Daram).
13 March 1845 -????
French Soprano
Debut 4 December 1874 in LES HUGUENOTS as Urban. Sang the following roles at Palais Garnier Paris. LA JUIVE (Eudoxie, 1875), GUILLAUME TELL (Jemmy, 1875 ; Mathilde, 1876), LES HUGUENOTS (Marguerite, 1875), FAUST (Siébel, 1875 ; Marguerite, 1877), DON JUAN (Zerline, 1876), LE FREISCHÜTZ (Anette, 1876), ROBERT LE DIABLE (Isabelle, 1877), L'AFRICAINE (Inès, 1877), HAMLET (Ophélie, 1878), LA MUETTE DE PORTICI (Elvire, 1879), LE COMTE ORY (la Comtesse, 1880) CREATED ,Agnes Sorel in "JEANNE D'ARC" by Mermet 1876, Berthe in "LA REINE BERTHE " By Joncières 1878 , Angel Gabrielle in " LA VIERGE" by Massenet 1880 & Xaima in " LA TRIBUTE DE ZAMORA" by Gounod 1881

HENRY SELLIER
(François Alfred Alexander Sellier)
(26 March 1849 - 26 June 1899).

As a young man of very poor ancestry he came to Paris looking for work. When he worked as an errand boy for a merchant his voice was discovered and with financial help he was able to study at the Conservatoire National de Paris. In 1876 he finished his vocal studies by winning the "Prix du Conservatoire". After that he was immediately engaged by the Grand-Opéra, where in 1878 he made his debut as Arnold in Rossini's "Guillaume Tell". Here he created the role of Manoël at the première in Gounod's "Le Tribut de Zamora" (1881) and the role of Paolo at the première of "Françoise de Rimini" by Ambroise Thomas (1882). He was widely admired for the balanced beauty of his tenor voice and the dramatic force of his performance. After a hunting accident he ended his career at the Grand-Opéra in 1888. The season 1889/90 he was engaged at Brussels at "The Théâtre de la Monnaie" , where he created the role of Mathô at the première of Ernest Reyer's opera "Salammbô". The season 1890/91 he was engaged at the Opéra of Marseille and the following years he was engaged by various French provincial theaters.