Trio lyrique

Trio lyrique. A vocal trio founded in Montreal in 1932 by the baritone Lionel Daunais, who enlisted the contralto Anna Malenfant, the tenor Ludovic Huot, and the pianist-arranger Allan McIver. The voices it brought together, and more particularly its repertoire, comprising folksongs and original songs by Daunais, sung in French or English, made the Trio lyrique a unique ensemble. All the arrangements were by McIver. The ensemble was heard first on private radio and was engaged in 1933 by the CRBC for its network series 'One Hour with You.' The program - for which Giuseppe Agostini conducted the orchestra - was extended for 87 weeks. For six months in 1936 the trio performed for the CBS network in New York. Later it was active mainly on CBC radio, for which it took part in countless programs, but it also gave public concerts. Jules Jacob replaced Huot in the early 1940s. The ensemble ceased its activities in the mid-1960s but was revived temporarily in the autumn of 1971 (with Guy Piché as tenor) for a CBC retrospective of Daunais's work. In 1954 the trio made the LP Chansons de Lionel Daunais (RCI 106). The SNE issued Le Trio lyrique chante Lionel Daunais in 1984 (SNE 513).

Author Gilles Potvin