Canadian opera singer
Pierre-Aurèle Asselin (1881–1964) was a French Canadian furrier and tenor singer. Asselin came from a musical family; he was the brother of mezzo-soprano Marie-Anne Asselin and great uncle of pianist André Asselin.
Asselin was born in the town of Sainte-Famille on Île d'Orléans in 1881. He moved with his family to Montreal around 1901, and, in 1903, he married Cora Laviolette in Notre-Dame cathedral.
Singing career.
Asselin began a career as a furrier soon after his marriage. He would remain a furrier until his retirement. Asselin sang in church for some time, but it would not be until 1916, when he was 35, that he would make his first professional performance. He performed for Ladies' Morning Musical Club of Quebec City, a club devoted to classical music appreciation. He was well received and, within a year, had signed a contract with Columbia Records. Under this contract, he recorded arias from French operas, various songs from operettas, and other classical songs.
Asselin also gave live performances. In April 1917, he performed in the oratorio Les Sept Paroles du Christ at the Montreal Cathedral. His first solo concert followed that October. He joined the Sociéte nationale d'opéra comique, but it quickly disbanded. In September 1918, he appeared at the Cartier Theatre and the Orpheum Theatre, alongside Blanche Gonthier.
Starting in November 1918, Asselin made recordings for the Edison recording label. His recordings were released in several formats, including Royal Purple Grand Opera Cylinder Records 29000 series, the Blue Amberol 27000 cylinder series and the Edison Diamonds 74000 series of disks. Through Edison, Asselin released a variety of recordings of arias and other serious classical works. Asselin continued recording with Edison until December 1920.
In May 1921, Asselin resigned with Columbia Records. He recorded eight songs in New York with them, which included arias by Donizetti, Godard, and Massenet, two duets with Guillaume Dupuis using contemporary melodies and a duet with Blanche Gonthier of Sur le lac d'argent by Fauré.
Asselin made his last recording for the Brunswick record company in 1929. Soon after, he disappeared from professional music and focused his efforts on his fur business. Asselin died in Montreal on December 27, 1964, leaving his fur business to his son Raymond.
Recordings.
[see the talk page regarding Edison recordings]
1917
1918
1919
1920 
1921
1922
References.
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