Jacques Jansen was a French operatic baritone born as Jacques Léon Toupin on November 22, 1913, in Paris. After seven years of studying the violin, he turned to vocal studies to improve his breathing following a pulmonary accident during military service. He studied with Charles Panzéra and received training at the Conservatoire de musique de Paris and the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Paris. Jansen received a first prize in singing in 1940. He reached wider visibility in 1941 when he made his debut as Pelléas in the Claude Debussy opera Pelléas et Mélisande at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. He performed the role for 40 years on stages including La Scala, Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera. His recording of Pelléas et Mélisande (1941) with the conductor Roger Désormière is considered a reference recording of the work. Jansen also performed in operettas and dubbed the singing voice of Alain Cuny in the movie Les Visiteurs du soir (1942). He served as a professor at the conservatories of Marseille and Paris. Jansen died on March 13, 2002.
![Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande, Vol. 1 [1956]](https://cdn-images.dzcdn.net/images/cover/5f192e8b8797c84bf2a56b91c8f6706e/120x120-000000-80-0-0.jpg)
![Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande, Vol. 3 [1956]](https://cdn-images.dzcdn.net/images/cover/84b1ac669d4edeaeaf919e21c4f48436/120x120-000000-80-0-0.jpg)
![Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande, Vol. 2 [1956]](https://cdn-images.dzcdn.net/images/cover/3bd7c7d0692d4a0b7b4149e0dbaf1928/120x120-000000-80-0-0.jpg)
![Delibes - Lakmé (Robin,De Luca,Sebastian) [1952], Volume 1](https://cdn-images.dzcdn.net/images/cover/b79862136f87d43a9be04fa700ce4d30/120x120-000000-80-0-0.jpg)
![Delibes - Lakmé (Robin,De Luca,Sebastian) [1952], Volume 2](https://cdn-images.dzcdn.net/images/cover/05b758522e024059997baa5c90ed3155/120x120-000000-80-0-0.jpg)
