 In a 1905 interview with the "New York Times" newspaper, he said that he had modelled his technique on the vocal method of a celebrated predecessor, the baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure, who had been an idol of Parisian audiences during the 1860s and '70s.The great bass debuted at the opera theatre in Lyon in 1877 in the role of Saint-Bris in Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots".He remained in Lyon until May 1879.