NOURRIT, ADOLPHE

born March 3, 1802, Montpellier, France died March 8, 1839, Naples French dramatic tenor who created many new roles in French opera. His father, Louis Nourrit, was both a leading tenor at the Paris Opra and a diamond merchant. Adolphe studied voice with Manuel Garca, a famous tenor of the time, and at 19 years of age he made his successful debut at the Paris Opra as Pylades in Christoph Willibald Gluck's Iphignie en Tauride. Within five years he succeeded his father as the leading tenor at the Paris Opra. During the next decade, Nourrit created such new roles in leading French operas as Amnophis in Gioacchino Rossini's French version of his Mos in Egitto, Arnold in Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Elazar in Fromental Halvy's La Juive, for which Nourrit wrote the lyrics of the aria Rachel, quand du seigneur, Robert in Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le diable, and Raoul in his Les Huguenots. He also wrote scenarios for four ballets, among them La Sylphide, and translated some of Franz Schubert's songs for French performance. When his rival, Gilbert Duprez, was also hired by the Opra in 1837, Nourrit decided to leave Paris. He traveled to Italy for his health and to study with Gaetano Donizetti. He performed in Naples, but his voice was affected by his poor health. His career faltered in Italy, he became depressed, and finally he jumped to his death from his hotel in Naples.