Jansen had a wide musical and artistic education; after studying the violin in Paris, he took lessons in solfège and bassoon at the conservatoire in Tours, where he also pursued courses in fine arts.\n', '

Having taken vocal lessons with Charles Panzéra, from 1938 he studied under Claire Croiza and Georges Viseur (solfège) at the Paris Conservatoire. He also took classes with René Simon and Louis Jouvet and won prizes which might have allowed him to follow a career in acting. In 1939 he sang the fountain scene (Act 2 scene 1) and the tower scene (Act 3 scene 1) of Claude Debussy\'s opera Pelléas et Mélisande with the Orchestre National de France under Inghelbrecht, an experience which left him overwhelmed with joy.\n', '

He made his debut as Pelléas at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 1941.\n', '

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