Micaël Pieri

French baritone, born in Saint-Laurent, France, of Spanish Catalan descent. His parents encouraged a career as an opera singer, and he the Paris Conservatory in 1949, but left after a few months and began a career as a variety singer. He was hired by Stello Lorenzi for a televised production of La Belle Hélène, and shortly afterwards, Gérard Calvi, who had attended the audition, introduced him to the director of Vogue records, who gave him a six-year contract. After extended stage productions of Une nuit aux Baléares (1954) and Tête de Linotte (1957) in Paris, he returned to opera in Bordeaux, singing in La Traviata, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, La Fille du Régiment, Mignon, La Locandiera, Nana, Les Noces de Sang and Le Joueur. He moved towards operetta with works by Offenbach, Lecocq, Lehar, Christine & Lopez.