Gilbert Py

He entered the Cannes contest (which was previously won by tenors Tony Poncet, Alain Vanzo, Guy Chauvet, Gustave Botiaux.

The winner was given the chance to sing a great role, Miss Janine Arcangoli, First Prize, chose Butterfly.

Master Fichefet, organizer of the competition, confided Pinkerton to young tenor Gilbert Py who had won only a second prize.

He made his debut on 14 November 1964 at Verviers (Belgium), as Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, with Janine Arcangioli (once she married him, she gave up her own career to devote herself exclusively to her husband's one).

On 16 January 1970, the audience in Nice discovered "an Otello who swept all at once, all those who since Luccioni had approached the role, including the famous Del Monaco I".

In 1969, he made his debut at the Paris Opera, with Carmen, Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, production Maurice Béjart, then Mario Caravadossi with Hana Janků.

The arrival of Rolf Liebermann as Administrator of the Opera was followed by the closure of the Opéra Comique and the dislocation of the troupe.