Germaine Cernay
Encyclopedia
Germaine Cernay, born Germaine Pointu Le Havre
28 April 1900, died Paris
, 1943 was a French alto
who was active both in the opera house and on the concert platform.
She made her debut at the Opéra-Comique
in Paris on 16 May 1927 as la Bossue in the Paris premiere of Alfano’s Risurrezione
(in French). Other creations at the Salle Favart were Floriane in Éros Vainqueur (de Bréville), la Tour in Le Fou de la Dame (Delannoy), a fairy in Riquet a la Houppe (Hue), and Léonor in Le Sicilien (Letorey). Her other principal roles at the Opéra-Comique included Sélysette (Ariane et Barbe-bleue
), a sister (Béatrice
), Gertrude (Le roi Dagobert), la fantôme (Les Contes d'Hoffmann
), Mallika (Lakmé
), Javotte (Manon
), title role in Mignon
, Souzouki (Madame Butterfly), Vincenette/Taven (Mireille
), Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande
), Cléone (Pénélope
), Charlotte (Werther
) and one of the voices in Masques et bergamasques.
She was invited to many provincial centres in France and also appeared in north Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, England, Ireland and Italy.
Broadcasting on French radio allowed Cernay to enlarge her repertoire to roles in Carmen, Le roi d’Ys, Le Chemineau, La damnation de Faust, Don Quichotte and La Lépreuse. She also sang in the first performance of surviving fragments of Chabrier's Vaucochard et fils Ier
on 22 April 1941 at the Salle du Conservatoire.
Cernay was one of best-known concert altos of her generation and highly considered as a Bach interpreter.
She appeared regularly with the Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire
from 1931 to 1942. Her first and last appearances with the orchestra were as alto soloist in the Bach Magnificat
, and in 1936 she sang in two performances of the Mass in B minor. Other works in which she sang at the concerts included Trois Duos by Raymond Loucheur, an excerpt from Couronnement de Poppée
, Trois Poèmes by Philippe Gaubert
, the Duo from Béatrice et Bénédict, Duos by Dandelot (premiere), Szymanowski’s Stabat mater, excerpts from Prométhée
, Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien
, Jeanne d’Arc (oratorio in seven parts by Louis Beydts
, George Dandelot, Loucheur, Tony Aubin
, Jacques Chailley, Pierre Capdevielle
, and André Jolivet
), and the Mozart Requiem.
and Columbia include:
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
28 April 1900, died Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1943 was a French alto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
who was active both in the opera house and on the concert platform.
Life and career
Cernay studied the piano before entering the Paris Conservatoire for vocal studies under Albers and Engel, winning first prizes in 1925.She made her debut at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
in Paris on 16 May 1927 as la Bossue in the Paris premiere of Alfano’s Risurrezione
Risurrezione
Risurrezione , is an opera or dramma in four acts by Franco Alfano. The libretto was written by Cesare Hanau based on the novel "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy...
(in French). Other creations at the Salle Favart were Floriane in Éros Vainqueur (de Bréville), la Tour in Le Fou de la Dame (Delannoy), a fairy in Riquet a la Houppe (Hue), and Léonor in Le Sicilien (Letorey). Her other principal roles at the Opéra-Comique included Sélysette (Ariane et Barbe-bleue
Ariane et Barbe-bleue
Ariane et Barbe-bleue is an opera in three acts by Paul Dukas. The French libretto is adapted from the symbolist play by Maurice Maeterlinck....
), a sister (Béatrice
Béatrice (opera)
Béatrice is a légende lyrique in four acts of 1914, with music by André Messager and a French libretto by Caillavet and Flers, after the short story La légende de Soeur Béatrix by Nodier.-Background:...
), Gertrude (Le roi Dagobert), la fantôme (Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann is an opéra by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on short stories by E. T. A...
), Mallika (Lakmé
Lakmé
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
), Javotte (Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
), title role in Mignon
Mignon
Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
, Souzouki (Madame Butterfly), Vincenette/Taven (Mireille
Mireille (opera)
Mireille is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Michel Carré after Frédéric Mistral's poem Mireio.-Composition history:...
), Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
), Cléone (Pénélope
Pénélope
Pénélope is an opera in three acts by the French composer Gabriel Fauré. The libretto, by René Fauchois, is based on Homer's Odyssey. It was first performed at the Salle Garnier, Monte Carlo on 4 March 1913.-Background and performance history:...
), Charlotte (Werther
Werther
Werther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....
) and one of the voices in Masques et bergamasques.
She was invited to many provincial centres in France and also appeared in north Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, England, Ireland and Italy.
Broadcasting on French radio allowed Cernay to enlarge her repertoire to roles in Carmen, Le roi d’Ys, Le Chemineau, La damnation de Faust, Don Quichotte and La Lépreuse. She also sang in the first performance of surviving fragments of Chabrier's Vaucochard et fils Ier
Vaucochard et fils Ier
Vaucochard et fils Ier is an unfinished opérette by Emmanuel Chabrier of which only some numbers survive. The French libretto was by Paul Verlaine.-Background:...
on 22 April 1941 at the Salle du Conservatoire.
Cernay was one of best-known concert altos of her generation and highly considered as a Bach interpreter.
She appeared regularly with the Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
The Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire was a symphony orchestra established in Paris in 1828. It gave its first concert on 9 March 1828 with music by Beethoven, Rossini, Meifreid, Rode and Cherubini....
from 1931 to 1942. Her first and last appearances with the orchestra were as alto soloist in the Bach Magnificat
Magnificat (Bach)
The Magnificat in D major, BWV 243, is a major vocal work of Johann Sebastian Bach. It was composed for orchestra, a five-part choir and four or five soloists. The text is the canticle of Mary, mother of Jesus, as told by Luke the Evangelist .Bach composed an initial version in E flat major in 1723...
, and in 1936 she sang in two performances of the Mass in B minor. Other works in which she sang at the concerts included Trois Duos by Raymond Loucheur, an excerpt from Couronnement de Poppée
L'incoronazione di Poppea
L'incoronazione di Poppea is an Italian baroque opera comprising a prologue and three acts, first performed in Venice during the 1642–43 carnival season. The music, attributed to Claudio Monteverdi, is a setting of a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello...
, Trois Poèmes by Philippe Gaubert
Philippe Gaubert
Philippe Gaubert was a French musician who was a distinguished performer on the flute, a respected conductor, and a composer, primarily for the flute....
, the Duo from Béatrice et Bénédict, Duos by Dandelot (premiere), Szymanowski’s Stabat mater, excerpts from Prométhée
Prométhée
Prométhée is an opera in three acts by the French composer Gabriel Fauré. The libretto, by Jean Lorrain and Ferdinand Hérold, is based on the Greek myth of Prometheus. Although designated a tragédie lyrique, the opera resists easy categorisation. It was intended as a large-scale work with spoken...
, Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien
Le martyre de Saint Sébastien
Le martyre de Saint Sébastien, L 124 is a musical work by the French composer Claude Debussy.Written in 1911, the work—a five-act musical mystery play on the subject of Saint Sebastian -- was produced in collaboration with Gabriele d'Annunzio and designed as a vehicle for Ida Rubinstein...
, Jeanne d’Arc (oratorio in seven parts by Louis Beydts
Louis Beydts
Louis Beydts was a French composer, music critic and theatre director, born 29 June 1895 in Bordeaux and died on 15 August 1953 at Caudéran in Gironde.-Life and career:...
, George Dandelot, Loucheur, Tony Aubin
Tony Aubin
Tony Louis Alexandre Aubin was a French composer.From 1925 to 1930 Aubin studied at the Paris Conservatory under Samuel Rousseau , Noel Gallon , Philippe Gaubert , and Paul Dukas . He was awarded the Prix de Rome for the cantata Actaeon in 1930...
, Jacques Chailley, Pierre Capdevielle
Pierre Capdevielle (musician)
Pierre Capdevielle was a French conductor, composer, and music critic. In 1938 he was awarded the Prix Blumenthal and in 1948 he founded the Centre de documentation de musique internationale. For many years he was President of France's chapter of the International Society for Contemporary Music....
, and André Jolivet
André Jolivet
André Jolivet was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet's music draws on his interest in acoustics and atonality as well as both ancient and modern influences in music, particularly on instruments used in ancient times...
), and the Mozart Requiem.
Discography
Cernay’s many recordings, made from February 1928 to June 1942, for OdéonOdeon Records
Odeon Records was a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label....
and Columbia include:
- JS Bach: Christmas Oratorio - Sion tiens-toi prête; Cantata for the 14th Sunday after Trinity
- Berlioz: L'Absence; La damnation de Faust: Il était un roi de Thulé, D'amour, l'ardente flamme
- Bizet: Carmen: Excerpts - L'amour est enfant de bohême, Quintet, Seguidilla, Les tringles des sistres tintaient, Melons! Coupons!; Complete (from radio broadcast, title role)
- Borodin: Prince Igor: Lentement baisse le jour, Sur la terre lasse
- Brahms: Deux cantiques op. 91 n °1 et 2
- Charpentier: Louise: L'enfant serait sage, Ah! N'est ce plus mon enfant, O jolie, Il va venir bientôt, O mon enfant, o ma Louise
- Dandelot: Chanson de Bilitis
- Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (Geneviève); L’Enfant prodigue - Recit et air d'Azael
- Délibes: Lakmé - Sous le dôme épais (with Solange Delmas, soprano)
- Duparc: La manoir de Rosemonde (with Gustave Cloëz, piano)
- Fauré: En Prière, Un parfum impérissable, Pleurs d'or, op. 72, Tarentelle, op. 10, no. 2, Salve Regina; Pénélope - C'est sur ce banc, Je l'attends, Minerve le protégé; Cantique de Jean Racine
- Ganne: Les saltimbanquesLes saltimbanquesLes saltimbanques is an opéra-comique in three acts, libretto by Maurice Ordonneau, music by Louis Ganne, first performed at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris, on December 30, 1899...
- C'est l'amour - Godard: Jocelyn - Berceuse
- Gounod: Faust - Faites-lui mes aveux; Mireille - Vincenette, votre âge
- Grieg: Peer Gynt, op. 23 - Solvejgs sang
- Hue: Nous deux (with Gustave Cloëz, piano)
- Lalo: Le roi d'Ys: Air de Margared, Margared, o ma sœur (with Bernadette Delprat, soprano)
- Lecocq: La fille de Madame Angot: Voyons, monsieur, raisonnons politique; Des lettres (with Victor PujolVictor PujolVíctor Pujol Sala is a former field hockey midfielder from Spain. He won the silver medal with the Men's National Team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There he scored the only goal for the Spaniards in the final against the Netherlands .-References:*...
, tenor) - Lehar: Lustige Witwe - Chanson de Vylja, Je ne connais votre Jeanette, Heure exquise, Final du 1er acte, C'est la valse
- Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana (Santuzza; with Gaston Micheletti, tenor, Arthur Endrèze, baritone, Alice Hena, soprano, Mady Arty, contralto)
- Massenet: SaphoSaphoSapho may refer to:*Sapho , a French singer*Sapho , novel by Alphonse Daudet*Sapho , 1897 opera by Jules Massenet, based on Daudet's novel*Sapho , 1851 opera by Charles Gounod...
: Air le la Lampe ; WertherWertherWerther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....
: (Charlotte, highlights) Prière, Air des lettres, Oui, c'est moi (with Charles FriantCharles FriantAuguste Charles Paul Friant , was a French tenor.Friant was born in the Montmartre district of Paris. His father was a principal ballet dancer, and his grandfather a professor of ballet at the Paris Opéra. While a boy, Charles Friant sang in the opera chorus, and appeared in the premiere of ...
, tenor), Albert est de retour, Mort de Werther, Air je dit vrai, Va, ma laisse couler mes larmes, Ah! Ce premier baiser ; HérodiadeHérodiadeHérodiade is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Paul Milliet and Henri Grémont, based on the novella Hérodias by Gustave Flaubert...
: Ne me refuse pas ; ThérèseThérèseThérèse is a film about the life of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. It was first released in 1986 and directed by Alain Cavalier.-Synopsis:Like two of her older sisters before her, Thérèse Martin is determined to become a Carmelite nun even though she is officially too young to enter the order...
: Le devoir, Jour de juin, tour d'été, Oui je t'aime André, je te vénère ; Don QuichotteDon QuichotteDon Quichotte is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn.Massenet's comédie-héroïque, like so many other dramatized versions of the story of Don Quixote, relates only indirectly to the great novel by Miguel de Cervantes...
- J'ai bien assez de mon tristesse, Oui je souffre, votre tristesse, Marchez dans mon chemin, Quand apparaissent les étoiles (with Roger BourdinRoger BourdinRoger Bourdin was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory. His career was largely based in France.- Life and career :...
, baritone) ; Le CidLe 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....
: Pleurez, pleurez mes yeux - Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro - Ouvre, ouvre bien vite (with Emma LuartEmma LuartEmma Luart was a Belgian operatic soprano. A graduate of the Brussels Conservatory, she made her official stage début at The Hague in 1914. She was committed to La Monnaie in Brussels from 1918-1922 where she excelled in lyric soprano roles like Louise, Mélisande, and Manon...
, soprano) - Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann: Barcarolle (with Emma Luart, soprano)
- Planquette: Rip: Si je la veux immense richesse
- Puccini: Madama Butterfly: Sur ma joue, la brise, Jetons comme à brassees (with Emma Luart, soprano)
- Rachmaninoff: Lilacs / Rose and the nightingale (with Gustave Cloëz, piano)
- Ravel : L'enfant et les sortilèges, excerpts
- Renauld : Pater noster - Ave maria
- Saint-Saens : Samson et Dalila - Printemps qui commence, Samson toi mon bien, Se pourrait-il ? (with Georges ThillGeorges ThillGeorges Thill was a French opera singer, often considered to be his country's greatest lyric-dramatic tenor...
, tenor); La cloche - Schutz : Exauce-moi (with Martha AngeliciMartha AngeliciMartha Angelici , was a French operatic soprano of Corsican origin, particularly associated with the French lyric repertoire....
, soprano) - Thomas : Mignon: Connais-tu le pays?, Elle est la, Près de lui, Romance de Mignon, As-tu souffert, as-tu pleuré?, Prière et Final O Vierge Marie, Melodrama et Duo Je suis heureuse, Duo des hirondelles, Styrienne, Légères hirondelles
- Wagner : Rêves