Franz Paul, born Gautier François, *30 November 1876 Paris, †20 April 1950 Paris, French singer (tenor). In 1909, he made his debut in Nantes, at the Paris Opera and in Monte Carlo. Between 1910 and 1914, he performed at Covent Garden (London), and after the First World War in South America; in 1920, he returned to Paris, where he ended his stage career in 1938. In 1937, he became a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. He composed the ballet L’orchestre en liberté (premiered in Paris in 1931), wrote the comedy Mon ténor chez les riches (premiered in Paris in 1932) and several film scripts. He enjoyed particular success in Wagner’s operas; he also sang roles in operas by Gounod, Bizet, Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Verdi and others. In the 1920s and 1930s, he took part in numerous world premieres of operas, including those by d’Indy, Dupont and Roussel.
