Félia Litvinne
Encyclopedia
Félia Litvinne was a Russian-born, French-based dramatic soprano
Dramatic soprano
A dramatic soprano is an operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually mean less agility than lighter voices but a sustained, fuller sound. Usually this voice has a lower tessitura than...
. She was particularly associated with Wagnerian roles, although she also sang a wide range of parts by other opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composers.
Life and career
Born in Russia as Françoise Jeanne Schutz into a family of German and French Canadian origin (her mother was born in the Province of QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
), she came to Paris to study with Barthe-Banderali, Pauline Viardot and Victor Maurel
Victor Maurel
Victor Maurel was a French operatic baritone who enjoyed an international reputation as a great singing-actor.-Biography:...
. She made her stage debut at the Théâtre-Italien
Comédie-Italienne
Over time, there have been several buildings and several theatrical companies named the "Théâtre-Italien" or the "Comédie-Italienne" in Paris. Following the times, the theatre has shown both plays and operas...
in 1883, as Amelia in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra by Antonio García Gutiérrez....
, as a last-minute replacement for Fidès Devriès. Shortly afterwards, she made her official debut as Elvira in Ernani
Ernani
Ernani is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Hernani by Victor Hugo. The first production took place at La Fenice Theatre, Venice on 9 March 1844...
(also by Verdi).
Litvinne's career rapidly became international in scope. During the course of the next three decades she appeared at the Academy of Music in New York, at the Paris Opera
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
, at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in Milan, at the Rome Opera
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements...
, at La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
in Venice, at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, in London and at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Tsarist Russia's two main cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg, experienced her vocal artistry as well.
Livinne first sang in New York in 1885-1886 with the Mapleson Company. She made her Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
debut in that city on November 25, 1896, as Valentine in Meyerbeer's grandest work, Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
. She sang at the Met for only one season, however. Her other roles there included Verdi's Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, Mozart's Donna Anna
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, Massenet's Chimène
Le Cid (opera)
Le Cid is an opera in four acts and ten tableaux by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet, Édouard Blau and Adolphe d'Ennery. It is based on the play of the same name by Pierre Corneille....
, Meyerbeer's Sélika
L'Africaine
L'africaine is a grand opera, the last work of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French libretto was written by Eugène Scribe. The opera is about fictitious events in the life of the real historical person Vasco da Gama...
, and Wagner's Brünnhilde
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
and Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
.
Paris became Litvinne's base. She took part in the premieres of three works by Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
, Hélène, L'ancêtre and Déjanire
Déjanire
Déjanire is an opera in 4 acts composed by Camille Saint-Saëns to a libretto in French by Louis Gallet and Camille Saint-Saëns. The last of Saint-Saëns' operas, it premiered on 14 March 1911 at the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo...
, as well as of Camille Erlanger
Camille Erlanger
Camille Erlanger was a Parisian-born French opera composer. He studied at the Paris Conservatory under Léo Delibes and Émile Durand, and in 1888 won the Prix de Rome for his cantata Velléda...
's Bacchus triomphant. Livinne also won acclaim for her splendid singing in revivals of two 18th-century operas by Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
, namely Alceste
Alceste (Gluck)
Alceste is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck from 1767. The libretto was written by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and based on the play Alcestis by Euripides. The premiere took place in Vienna.-Preface and reforms:...
and Armide
Armide (Gluck)
Armide is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck, his fifth for the Parisian stage and the composer's own favourite among his works. It was first performed in Paris at the Académie Royale on 23 September 1777....
.
In 1915, she sang Aida at Monte Carlo opposite Enrico Caruso. Her last operatic appearances were at Vichy in 1919 but she continued giving recitals until 1924. In retirement, she taught at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau. Among her pupils were the sopranos Nina Koshetz
Nina Koshetz
Nina Koshetz ; December 30, 1891 - May 14, 1965) was a Ukrainian, later American, soprano opera and recital singer.Her father, a famous opera singer Pavel Koshetz , committed suicide. She was then 12 years....
and Germaine Lubin
Germaine Lubin
Germaine Lubin was a French dramatic soprano best known for her association with the music of Richard Wagner...
. She published a book of Conseils et exercices in 1924 while her autobiography, Ma vie et mon art, was released in 1933. She died in Paris three years later, just after her 76th birthday.
Litvinne was regarded widely as being one of the greatest dramatic sopranos of the late 19th century and the early 20th century. She possessed an excellent technique and a strong, flexible and resonant voice. Her low and middle registers had a mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
like coloration and were particularly impressive but her top notes did not always ring out with total freedom, if her records are any guide. Litvinne was not famous in her lifetime as a singing-actress but she commanded a stately stage presence.
Recordings
Using an ArchéophoneArchéophone
The Archéophone is a modern, electric version of the phonographs and ediphones from the early 20th century. It is specifically designed to transfer phonograph cylinders and other cylinder formats to modern recording media....
for the transcription, the 35 surviving records of Litvinne have been released complete on CD by Marston Records (52049-2). This release also contains extensive liner notes dealing with her career and voice.
Sources
- Le dictionnaire des interprètes, Alain Pâris, (Édition Robert Laffont, 1989), ISBN 2-221-06660-X
- The Record of Singing (Volume One), Michael Scott, (Duckworth, London, 1977).
- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, (second edition), Harold Rosenthal & John Warrack (Oxford Universioty Press, London, 1980).