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At age of 20, quitting the college with a first University degree in Arts, Bruno Laplante prepared, under the coaching of Édouard Wooley, for admission into the Montreal Conservatory. Once accepted there, he studied in particular French opera with Raoul Jobin and French art song with Roy Royal. He also made his first appearances as an adult on the concert stage: in a Serenade by Léo Delibes for Geneviève Bujold in "À quoi rêvent les jeunes filles" (To what are the girls dreaming), then as Siméon in Debussy's "L'Enfant Prodigue" (The Prodigal Son) with the Conservatory orchestra and choir, and as a chorist in "L'Arlésienne" by Daudet and Bizet, under the direction of Wilfrid Pelletier.
After five years of studies at the Conservatory, Bruno Laplante leaved being awarded a Premier Prix (a First Prize) diploma in vocal performance, plus a Deuxième Prix (a Second Prize) in music history and, as a winner of a Prix d'Europe contest, he went on to an ultimate training in French Mélodie with Pierre Bernac, in Paris, for three years.
This is where, in Paris, under Bernac coaching, Bruno Laplante improved on the subtle art of musical and vocal interpretation, deriving the essence of each song, and especially of its literary text, and then communicating the entire range of its colours to the audience, much beyond the only musical observance.
His time in France also provided him an opportunity to gain an inside view of European culture and, at some Goethe-Institut, to improve in German, the language of so many beautiful lieder!... He also took part in several national and international competitions and won various awards and prizes in Europe and (when back for a few weeks in Canada) a Special Performance Prize at Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Upon returning to Quebec in the early 1970s, Bruno Laplante organized several important recitals of French art songs. The scope of his repertory resulted in a number of recording contracts for radio broadcasts, bringing his name before the general public. He was receptive to new music, and gave the first performances of several works. He also sang for television, toured for Youth and Music (Jeunesses musicales) in both Canada and France.
Bruno Laplante also founded in 1974, and since conducted, the Montreal "Ensemble Cantabile", that he renamed "Le Nouveau Théâtre Musical" (NTM) in 1994, when he began operating from Quebec City.
Thus, from 1974 for more than 30 years to now, Bruno Laplante, the recitalist and opera-operetta artist, will have been also the producer and artistic director of more than 40 lyric works or programmes, for more than 800 performances, that provided work to some 400 artists and 200 creators or craftmen, technicians... as a unique effort in Canada to renew the Lyric Art presentation and to give opportunity to many young talented and well-prepared newcomers (artists, creators and other stage workers) to really begin their career, like in their best dream, aside some successful elders, in their own country.
His international career developed quickly following the release of his first recitals on the Calliope label (from 1974 too). Bruno Laplante's supple and expressive voice and his exceptional qualities as an interpreter of romantic song won him to soon receive in France at the Paris City Hall the "Grand Prix du disque de l'Académie du disque français" (1977) for his first 3 Calliope albums: Hahn, Massenet, Gounod. His Massenet album had been declared 'The Best Record of the Year' (1975) by The London Sunday Times.
Bruno Laplante toured in Europe, as a soloist in large-scale works for choir and orchestra such as "Les Béatitudes" by César Franck, in a live recording of Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande", and in operas by Massenet and songs by Duparc with orchestral accompaniment. In 1977 on German TV, Bruno Laplante appeared as Roderick Usher (the first role) in the first performance of Debussy's "La Chute de la Maison Usher" (from the Edgar Allen Poe's short story 'The Fall of the House of Usher') in Frankfurt with Eliahu Inbal.
In his career Bruno Laplante also worked with many other prominent conductors such as: Jean Fournet, Spiros Argiris, Charles Dutoit, Franz-Paul Decker, Pierre Bartholomée, Philippe Herreweghe, Kenneth Montgomery, James de Priest, Louis de Froment, Henry Lewis, José Cérébrier, and Jérôme Kaltenbach.
Bruno Laplante also performed recitals in prestigious venues such as: the Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Kungstring Diligentia in the Hague, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Theatro São Luis in Lisbon, the Bunka Kaikan and Casals Hall in Tokyo, and Izumi Hall in Osaka, and at the Festival du Marais in Paris, the Aix-en-Provence festival, the Nuits de Septembre in Wallonie, the Flanders festival, and the Ottawa festival in Canada.
Bruno Laplante sang in more than 30 countries, 100 cities.
Recording has long played an important role in his artistic career, and he is best-known for his personal vision of each work, his artistic curiosity, his interest in research, and in particular for his performances of both well-known and (wrongly) neglected works.
In addition to frequent appearances on the Japanese and Canadian national networks, Bruno Laplante has recorded for the national radio services of many other countries: Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Romania, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, England, and especially France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Since 1989 the baritone Bruno Laplante is associated into a lyric duo with France Duval, a mezzo-soprano. In 1994 they made Quebec City their home base, from where they continue to launch their national and international tours and to record their new albums.
In 1998 Bruno Laplante produced and revived in Quebec City, with France Duval and 6 other classical singers, 60 musicians of the Quebec Symphonic Orchestra, and a chorus, a forgotten Canadian historical opera, "L'Intendant Bigot" (1929): 2 nice outside performances at night in presence of a large public, in which are many descendants of the composer, Ulric Voyer. - Bruno Laplante founded the NTM Editions at this occasion and offered the score of this opera (344 pages, for voices and piano) as the first work in the catalog.
Since year 2000 the Bruno Laplante and France Duval two children, Rosemarie and Mathilde (who were 8 and 4 years old), are often both included in their concert or show performances. - Both daughters began performing on the stage at the age of 4.
All the family was in Europe for summer 2002 and, when back to Quebec City, finished his first family recording, released the same year.
At the end of May 2004, along the Saint Lawrence River estuary, France and Bruno gave with a tenor the first world public performances of 2 Gounod's works (5 sold-out performances, one at each of 5 locations): the cantata "Fernand" (1839), never published before, and the hymn "La Liberté éclairant le Monde" (1876; 'Liberty Enlightening the World'), both works having been edited just before by the NTM Editions. It was for their daughters their first orchestra accompanied concert: they sang a duo by Bordese ("Les voix rivales"), another work that was added to the NTM Editions' catalog.
In december 2004 they had their family first singing tour in Japan (in 4 cities), but it was the 9th tour in Japan for the Duo of France and Bruno, in 15 years.
In august 2005, to participate in celebrating the last 60 Years of Peace in Europe, the family sang in France with an international chorus and a German orchestra. The young Canadian Rosemarie and Mathilde performed into the choir, while their father and mother were soloists aside 2 German soloists, for 2 works of Gounod: the Requiem (1893; Gounod's last work, a mass) and Gallia - Lamentation (1871; an oratorio motett for soprano solo, chorus, orchestra and organ), song by France Duval.
At the end of Fall in 2006 the Laplante-Duval Family offered in Quebec City 10 sold-out much appreciated performances of their own new Christmas Concert and Show, "Chantons Noël !" (Let's sing Christmas!).
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), in the list aside, are yet available in english. But, come back: we will add the other pages one after the other.
