Janine Micheau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Janine Micheau (April 17, 1914 - October 18, 1976) was a French opera singer, one of the leading lyric soprano of her era in France.

[edit] Life and career

Janine (or Jeanine) Micheau was born in Toulouse, France, and studied voice at the Music Conservatory there, and later at the Paris Music Conservatory. She made her professional debut at the Opéra-Comique in 1933, as Cherubino in Nozze di Figaro, other roles there included Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Leila in Les pecheurs de perles, Micaela in Carmen, and the title role in Lakmé. She created the role of Creuse in Darius Milhaud 's Médée, for her debut at the Paris Opera in 1940, where she also sang Gilda in Rigoletto, and Violetta in La Traviata.

Once the war over, her career took an international dimension, she was invited at La Scala in Milan, La Monnaie in Brussels, Royal Opera House in London, the San Francisco Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where she sang all the great french roles, Marguerite, Juliette, Manon, Mélisande, etc.

Micheau was very active singing on radio broadcast in France, especially in 18th century french works such as Rameau 's Les Indes galantes and Platée. She made several recordings, many have been released on CDs.

After retiring from the stage, she became a voice teacher at the Paris Music Conservatory and the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Janine Micheau died in Paris, France, on October 18, 1976, aged 62.

[edit] Sources

• Alain Pâris, Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle (2 vols), Ed. Robert Laffont (Bouquins, Paris 1982, 4th Edn. 1995, 5th Edn 2004). ISBN 2-221-06660-X
• Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), Guide de l’opéra, Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995). ISBN 2-213-01563-6