Description

BLANCHE ARRAL (LIÈGE, BELGIUM, 10 OCTOBER, 1864 – PALISADES PARK, NEW JERSEY, 3 MARCH, 1945)

Born Clara Lardinois in Liège, Belgium, she studied under Mathilde Marchesi in Paris. In 1883 she began her career (under her real name) at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Here she made her debut as Anita in ‘’Le portrait de Cervantes’’ of Dieulafary. She sang there small roles, appeared also in the premiere of J. Massenet’s ‘’Manon’’ (19. 1. 1884). Later she performed in various opera houses in Brussels, Paris and St. Petersburg before moving to the United States. In 1901 she was with a touring company in Indochina, while waiting for the 1902 Exposition of Hanoi to open, performing at Haiphong and the Hanoi Opera House. She joined the Metropolitan Opera for the 1909–1910 season. Unexpectedly in 1935 she gave some concerts on the American broadcasting company on which she herself commented and told numerous anecdotes from her career. Later she lived in New York.

TRACKLIST

1. Bettelstudent (Millöcker) Czardas Victor 64098 B6905-1
2. Coeur et la Main (Lecocq) Bolero Edison B190, 35005
3. El bolero grande (Vasseur) Victor 64107 B6913-2
4. Faust (Gounod) Air des bijoux Edison B169, 35003
5. Faust (Gounod) Air des bijoux Victor 74147 C6907-1
6. Grand Mogol (Audran) Valse des serpents rr IRCC 112-B
7. La véritable Manola (Bourgeois) Edison 35006
8. Lombardi (Verdi) Quella ivressebonheur supreme (Polonaise) Victor 74146 C6906-1
9. Manon (Massenet) Au Cours-la-Reine rr IRCC100
10. Mascotte (Audran) Couplets des dindons Bettini 45
11. Mignon (Thomas) Je suis Titania Edison B166, BA28125
12. Noces de Jeannette (Massé) Air du rossignol Victor 74142 C6911-1
13. Perle du Brésil (David) Charmant oiseau rr IRCC 112-A
14. Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) Je veux vivre (Valse) Victor 74151 C6904-1
15. Valse d’oiseau (Varney) Victor 64099 B6912-1