Jeanne Gerville-Réache

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeanne Gerville-Réache (born March 26, 1882 in Orthez, France; died January 5, 1915 in New York, New York) was a French operatic contralto from the Belle 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 and Pauline Viardot. Emma Calvé arranged for her début as Orphée in Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice at the Opéra-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 the Royal Opera House, London in 1905, and sang at the Manhattan Opera Company, New York from 1907 to 1910, subsequently appearing in Chicago, Boston, and Canada. She was the first Klytemnästra in Richard Strauss's Elektra in America.

She died at the early age of 32 from food poisoning.

Contents 1 Recordings 1.1 Sample 2 Sources 3 External Links

[edit] Recordings

[edit] Sample

• Gerville-Réache singing "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" from Samson et Dalila

[edit] Sources

• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5

[edit] External Links

• Biographical sketch on Cantabile-subito