Description

MARIA KUZNETSOVA-BENOIS (ODESSA, UKRAINE, 22 JULY, 1880 – PARIS, FRANCE, 25 APRIL, 1966)

She was at first a ballet dancer at the Alexandra Theatre in St. Petersburg before studying singing with Joachim Tartakov in that same city. Her opera debut (1905) was at the Mariinsky Theatre as Marguerite in Faust. It wasn’t long before she was regarded as one of the most brilliant, beautiful, and sensitive singers of her time, but like Lina Cavalieri, perhaps many of the kudos were generated by her own persistent and public self-advertisements. In 1908 she was invited to the Paris Opéra, where she repeated the vocal successes she had in St. Petersburg, and even appeared (with only mild success) as Potiphar’s wife in a 1914 Paris ballet production of La Légende de Saint Joseph (R. Strauss) with Serge Diaghilev as Potiphar. At the Monte Carlo Opera she was engaged to premiere two operas by Massenet. In 1912 she created Fausta in Roma in which she was called “a feast to the eyes” and “the prettiest and most seductive Fausta that one might wish for.” For Cléopâtre, Massenet wanted the mezzo-soprano Lucy Arbell, but after Massenet’s death the 1914 world premiere was scheduled with Kousnietzoff (as she was known in France) in the title role. The dismayed Arbell instituted legal action but lost. During the litigation she contended that over 288 posthumous changes were made to Massenet’s original work to accommodate a soprano instead of a contralto. Arbell did eventually sing the role in both Nantes and Bordeaux. In 1915 Kousnietzoff married a French citizen. Three years later she left Russia permanently for France. With limited success, she even organized Russian companies (the Opéra Russe) to introduce Russian opera to the French audiences. In 1920 she became a film actress. After the age of fifty she confined her appearances to recitals.

TRACKLIST

1. A Life for the Tzar (Glinka) I do not grieve about that 23490 2921L G&T, St Petersburg 1905
2. Bohème (Puccini) Mi chiamano Mimì 0198, 60057 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
3. Esclarmonde (Massenet) Regards-les, ces yeux 2024 Pathé, Paris 1920
4. Faust (Gounod) Le roi de Thulé 0123 3140 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
5. Madama Butterfly (Puccini) Un bel dì vedremo 0198 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
6. Manon (Massenet) Adieu, notre petite table 0122 3135 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
7. Manon (Massenet) Gavotte 0122, 60065 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
8. Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) Valse 0123, 60065 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
9. Ruslan and Ludmila (Glinka) Wondrous star of love….O my Ratmir 23488 2923L G&T, St Petersburg 1905
10. Tarass Boulba (Samuel-Rousseau) Non, je n’ai pas sommeil 2023 Pathé, Paris 1920
11. The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky) Lisa’s ariaАА210904 b xxRu 606-2 Odeon, Paris 1926
12. Tosca (Puccini) Vissi d’arte 0203 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
13. Traviata (Verdi) Ah, fors’è lui 0194 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
14. Traviata (Verdi) E strano….Ah, fors’еlui 23491 2922L Gramophone, St Petersburg 1905
15. Traviata (Verdi) Follie! Follie! 0194, 60057 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
16. Trust de los Tenorios (Serrano) Jota 0191 Pathé, Paris 1916/1917
17. Traviata (Verdi): Aria di Violetta 24184 Pathé, St Petersburg 1907?
18. Night, love and the moon (Davidov) 24189 Pathé, St Petersburg 1907?