Van Dyck, Ernest (Marie Hubert)
Van Dyck, Ernest (Marie Hubert)
Van Dyck, Ernest (Marie Hubert), distinguished Belgian tenor; b. Antwerp, April 2, 1861; d. Berlaer-lez-Lierre, Aug. 31, 1923. He studied law, and was a journalist in Paris, where he studied voice with Saint-Yves Bax. He sang at the Lamoureux concerts (from 1883); made his operatic debut in Lohengrin (May 3, 1887). After further training with Julius Kniese, he appeared at the Bayreuth Festival as Parsifal in 1888, a role he sang there regularly until 1912; also appeared as Lohengrin there in 1894. From 1888 to 1900 he was a member of the Vienna Court Opera; on May 19,1891, he made his London debut at Covent Garden, returning there in 1897,1898, and 1901; made his first appearance at the Paris Opéra as Lohengrin on Sept. 16,1891, which role he also sang at his debut at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels on April 28,1894. He made his U.S. debut as Tannhäuser in Chicago (Nov. 9,1898); made his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. in the same role (Nov. 29, 1898), and remained with the company until 1902. In 1907 he served as manager of the German Opera season at Covent Garden, where he also sang Tristan and Siegmund; in 1908 he sang Siegfried in Götterdämmerungand in 1914 Parsifal at the Paris Opéra. He taught voice in Paris and later in Brussels. He was equally at home in Wagnerian roles and the French repertoire.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire