- Jeanne Gerville-Réache
Jeanne Gerville-Réache (born
March 26 ,1882 inOrthez , France; diedJanuary 5 ,1915 inNew York , New York) was a Frenchoperatic contralto from theBelle Époque . She was particularly known for her portrayal of Dalila in Saint-Saëns' "Samson et Dalila ", which helped establish this opera in America.Gerville-Réache studied in Paris under
Rosine Laborde andPauline Viardot .Emma Calvé arranged for her début as Orphée in Gluck's "Orphée et Eurydice " at theOpéra-Comique in 1899. While at the Opéra-Comique, she created the role of Geneviève in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande in 1902. She made her debut at theRoyal Opera House ,London in 1905, and sang at the Manhattan Opera Company,New York from 1907 to 1910, subsequently appearing inChicago ,Boston , andCanada . She was the first Klytemnästra inRichard Strauss 's Elektra in America.She died at the early age of 32 from food poisoning.
Recordings
ample
* [http://www.cantabile-subito.de/Contraltos/Gerville-Reache/GervilleReacheSaintSaens.MP3 Gerville-Réache singing "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" from "Samson et Dalila"]
ources
*Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), "The Oxford Dictionary of Opera", 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
External links
* [http://www.cantabile-subito.de/Contraltos/Gerville-Reache/hauptteil_gerville-reache.htm Biographical sketch on Cantabile-subito]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.