Huguette Tourangeau

Huguette Tourangeau (born August 12, 1940 [some sources say 1938] ) is a French-Canadian operatic mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories.

Life and career

Huguette Tourangeau was born in Montréal, Québec, and graduated in pedagogy and piano from the Montréal Marguerite-Bourgeoys College, before entering the Montréal Music Conservatory in 1958, where she was a pupil of Ruzena Herlinger (voice), Otto-Werner Mueller (repertory) and Roy Royal (declamation). In 1962, she was a soloist in Monteverdi's "Vespro della Beata Vergine", in Montréal. She made her operatic debut as Mercédès in "Carmen", under Zubin Mehta, in 1964, also in Montréal.

The same year, she sang Cherubino in "Le nozze di Figaro", at the Stratford Festival, under Richard Bonynge. During the 1965-66 season, she appeared as Carmen in fifty-six cities throughout North America with the Metropolitan National Company. Around that time, she began a partnership with Dame Joan Sutherland and Bonynge, both on stage and on record. She was heard in Seattle as Malika in "Lakmé"; London as Urbain in "Les Huguenots"; and San Francisco as Elisabetta in "Maria Stuarda", Adalgisa in "Norma", and Prince Orlofsky in "Die Fledermaus".

In 1967 and 1968, Tourangeau appeared with the New York City Opera, as Carmen. She made her formal Metropolitan Opera debut on November 28, 1973, as Nicklausse in "Les contes d'Hoffmann" (with Plácido Domingo in the name part), and later sang Dorabella in "Così fan tutte" (1975-76), Cherubino in "Le nozze di Figaro" (opposite Justino Díaz and Judith Blegen, 1976) and Parséïs in "Esclarmonde" (opposite Joan Sutherland, 1976). In 1978, she was seen in the Met's televised performance of "Don Giovanni", as Zerlina, which was her final role at that theatre.

Other notable roles included Bertario in "Rodelinda", at the Holland Festival; in "Semiramide" (as Arsace) and "Le roi de Lahore" (as Kaled), at the Vancouver Opera; and "La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein", at the Santa Fe Opera.

Tourangeau excelled equally in both light and dramatic roles, possessing a flexible mezzo-soprano adaptable to a wide range of repertoire, from bel canto coloratura trouser-roles to French lyric heroines. She was also regarded as an excellent singing-actress.

In 1977, she became the first recipient of the "Canadian Music Council" artist of the year, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in July 1997. Her husband, Barry Thompson, was manager of the Vancouver Opera (1975-78) and of the Edmonton Opera Association.

Recordings

Huguette Tourangeau appears in many recordings (on Decca Records) opposite Dame Joan: "Les Huguenots" (1969), "Messiah" (1969-70), "Rigoletto" (1971), "Lucia di Lammermoor" (1971), "Les contes d'Hoffmann" (1971), "Maria Stuarda" (1974-75), "L'oracolo" (with Tito Gobbi, 1975), "Esclarmonde" (1975), "Le roi de Lahore" (with Luis Lima, 1979), and "Rodelinda". The mezzo-soprano also recorded "Thérèse" (with Louis Quilico, 1974), "El amor brujo", and "Arias from Forgotten Operas" (1970).

Videography

* Delibes: "Lakmé" (Sutherland; Bonynge, Ayrton, 1976) [live] Kultur

Sources

* "The Canadian Music Encyclopedia", Gilles Potvin.

External links

* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Params=U1ARTU0003453 On Huguette Tourangeau at "The Canadian Encyclopedia"]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xln3coTBQA YouTube: Huguette Tourangeau in an excerpt from "Don Giovanni", with Alan Monk (1978)] .