Victor Occellier

Occellier, Victor

Victor Occellier. Baritone, teacher, b Italy, d Quebec City 3 Dec 1916. He studied in France and began his operatic career there. He visited Canada in October 1899 as a member of the Durieu-Nicosias company, to which Salvator Issaurel also belonged. In Montreal and Quebec City he was heard in several roles, including William Tell in Rossini's opera of that name. When the company disbanded in Cuba late in 1899 he went to New York, where he made his Metropolitan Opera debut 27 Jan 1900 as Valentin in Faust. After a single season (1899-1900) he returned to Montreal, where he was a popular star 1900-6 at Sohmer Park, specializing in ballads and operetta. After a farewell performance in 1906 in the title role of Rigoletto at the Monument national he was briefly a member of the Manhattan Opera in New York. He then settled in Quebec City, where he dedicated himself to teaching and to the concert stage. Adrienne Roy-Villandré (Yohadio) was one of his pupils. The five titles he recorded for Berliner and the one for Columbia are listed in Roll Back the Years. He wrote some articles for Le Passe-Temps.