Description

FÉLIA LITVINNE (SAINT PETERSBURG, 11 OCTOBER, 1860 – PARIS, 12 OCTOBER, 1936)

Her real name was Françoise-Jeanne Schütz. Her father was of Russian origin, and her mother was of Canadian descent. At the age of 15, she moved to Paris, where she studied with Mme Barthe-Banderali, Victor Maurel, and the renowned mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot-Garcia. In 1880, she first performed for a Parisian audience. In 1883, performing under the name Felia Litvinova, she covered for the suddenly indisposed Fides Devries in the role of Maria Boccanegra in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris. Six months later, she officially debuted at the same theater as Elvira in Verdi’s Ernani.

Her sister, Helene Schuetz, married the famous bass Edouard de Reszke (1853–1917), who helped launch her international career. After guest appearances in Genoa and Barcelona, she embarked on her first concert tour of North America, including New York, with the Mapleson Opera Company in 1885. From 1886 to 1888, she performed at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, and in 1889 she made her debut at the Paris Opera as Valentine in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots. Her success led to guest performances around the world in cities such as Moscow (1889), St. Petersburg (1890), Rome, and Venice.

From 1890 to 1896, she achieved great triumphs at Teatro alla Scala in Milan. She was honored as a laureate singer by the Russian Tsar and directed several opera productions in Russia. In the 1896–1897 season, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots, appearing in nine roles across 22 performances, including Wagnerian parts she had added to her repertoire.

She became a regular guest at Covent Garden in London from 1889 to 1910. In 1901, she sang Brussels’ first Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung, and in 1903, she performed Brünnhilde in Brussels’ first complete cycle of Der Ring des Nibelungen. She sang three Wagner roles in Paris premieres: Isolde in Tristan und Isolde at the Théâtre Nouveau in 1899, Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung at the Théâtre du Château d’Eau in 1902, and Brünnhilde in the first Paris complete Ring cycle at the Paris Opera in 1911. She also performed Kundry in Parsifal in Amsterdam in 1905, despite protests from Bayreuth since the work was still exclusive to the Bayreuth Festival. In 1913, she was Monte Carlo’s first Kundry in Parsifal.

On February 24, 1906, she sang in the world premiere of Camille Saint-Saëns’ opera L’Ancêtre. One of her greatest triumphs came in 1905, when she performed the title role in Gluck’s Armide at the Arena de Béziers. She continued guest appearances worldwide until her retirement from the stage in Paris in 1917. In 1919, she returned to the stage at Vichy. She continued giving concerts and recitals until 1924.

In 1927, she became a professor at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, where her students included Germaine Lubin and Nina Koshetz. Her memoirs, titled Ma vie et mon art, were published in 1933 in Paris. She was known for her dramatic soprano voice, which was both powerful and flexible, and her interpretation of Gluck’s Armide remains highly regarded.

TRACKLIST

1. Aida (Verdi) I sacri nomi Fonotipia 39217 XPh 694
2. Carmen (Bizet) Habanera Odeon 56224 XP 5158
3. Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) Voi lo sapete Fonotipia 39052 XPh 675
4. Die Walkure (Wagner) Ho-jo-to-ho G&T 33163X 2274 CS
5. Faust (Gounod) Ballade du roi de Thulé Pathé 350 2821
6. Faust (Gounod) Seigneur, daignez G&T 033001 2273 CS
7. Faust (Gounod) Seigneur, daignez Pathé 351 7259
8. Favorita (Donizetti) O mon Fernand Odeon 56220 XP 5023
9. Harold Lullaby (Nápravnik) G&T 33161 1361 F
10. Harold Lullaby (Nápravnik) G&T 33161X 2272 CS
11. Ich grolle nicht (Schumann) Fonotipia 39060 XPh 693
12. Ich grolle nicht (Schumann) G&T 33182 1365 F
13. Ich grolle nicht (Schumann) G&T 33182X 2258 CS
14. L’Africaine (Meyerbeer) Sur mes genoux Fonotipia 39218 XPh 695
15. L’Africaine (Meyerbeer) Sur mes genoux Odeon 56226 XP 5161
16. L’africaine (Meyerbeer) Sur mes genoux Odeon 56223 XP 5177
17. L’Incrédule (Hahn) Pathé 352 2822
18. Le Cid (Massenet) Pleurez, mes yeux Odeon 56223 XP 5177