Irène Joachim
Encyclopedia
Irène Joachim, born 13 March 1913 in Paris, died 20 April 2001, also in Paris, was a French soprano
, and later a vocal teacher.
, and grand-daughter of the violinist Joseph Joachim
, she learnt violin and piano as a child. She was bilingual in German and French.
Just before the outbreak of the First World War she and her parents left Paris for Berlin, staying in a pension in the Lutherstrasse for the remainder of the war. Her father died of tuberculosis
in 1917, and due to the hardships of life in the German capital Joachim was sent back to France in the autumn of 1918, living with an aunt before her mother returned in 1920.
Due to health problems and her mother’s professional life-style, Joachim was educated privately, firstly by Jeanne Favart. Afternoons were devoted to music studies : violin
, piano
and solfège
.
As a child she heard musicians such as Emanuel Feuermann
, Claire Croiza
, Germaine Lubin
, Marya Freund and the Capet Quartet
. Through the social circle of Jean Gehret
the 12-year old Joachim went to plays and attended the last seasons of the Diaghilev Ballet
. During the summer of 1926 and for several months in 1927 Irène accompanied her mother who undertook two visits as a teacher with the Yanker family in Chicago
. This again brought the young Joachim into close contact with leading musicians, such as Thibaud
, Tansman
, Casals
and Ravel. Back in France she stopped her violin studies but continued with the piano.
She married firstly Roger Weber on 29 July 1929 and on 3 July 1930 her son Alain was born. However, she divorced Weber soon after, and suffered a period of depression and uncertainty about the direction of her life. She married secondly Jean-Louis Lévi Alvarès (great grand son of David Lévi Alvarès) film producer, in November 1955.
At the instigation of Jean Gehret, in 1933 Joachim began singing lessons, with Germaine Chevalet; her progress was such that she entered the competition to enrol at the Paris Conservatoire, joining the class of Cesbron-Viseur in October 1935, later studying with Georges Viseur (solfège) and Pierre Chéreau. During her Conservatoire years Joachim supported herself by singing in choirs, and also sang at the Concerts du Societe du Conservatoire
.
, but vocal music by Yves Nat
and excerpts from Les Indes galantes
.
Joachim made her debut at the Opéra-Comique
on 2 February 1939 as Nanthilde in Le Bon Roi Dagobert by Samuel-Rousseau
. She then sang Micaela, Hélène (Une éducation manquée
), Marguerite (Fragonard), the Countess (The Marriage of Figaro
), Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), the wife (Le pauvre matelot
), Rosenn (Le roi d'Ys
) and Sophie (Werther
). She also created Léda (Amphytrion 38), Ginèvra (Ginèvra), Isabelle (Guignol), Madeleine (Marion) and Azénor (Le Rossignol de Saint-Malo). At the German invasion in 1940, along with many other Parisians she fled the city, but returned to the capital after the armistice.
Joachim is particularly remembered for her interpretation of Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande
which she first sang at the Opéra-Comique on 12 September 1940, reprising it in France and abroad up to 1952; she recorded the role in April and May 1941 under Roger Désormière. She had studied Mélisande with Georges Viseur, who had worked alongside André Messager
during the opera's premiere run, and she also had several meetings in Paris with Mary Garden
, who created Mélisande and who particularly helped Joachim with stage deportment for the role. Her first performance alongside Jacques Jansen
as Pelléas took place at the Opéra-Comique on 20 April 1941. Joachim's fame in Pelléas et Mélisande brought about an invitation from the Propagandastaffel to sing in Berlin, which she refused. During the war years, especially from 1942 she joined other artists in the Front National; her home was used for passing messages among the group.
She sang Rozenn (Le roi d'Ys
) at both the Salle Favart and the Salle Garnier, as well as Mélisande in Ariane et Barbe-bleue
at the Opéra. While her operatic career continued, the post-war years saw Joachim develop a fruitful relationship in recital
with Jane Bathori
; later in the 1950s, with other accompanists she made several broadcasts for French radio. She participated in the premiere of Le soleil des eaux by Boulez as well as of works by Dutilleux, Wiener and Nigg
. She was renowned for her impeccable diction.
Irène Joachim also sang German lieder such as Schubert, Schumann, Berg: she won a 'Grand Prix du Disque
' in 1959 for her recording of lieder by Carl Maria von Weber
(with Hélène Boschi at the piano).In 1956 Joachim’s contract at the Opera-Comique concluded, but she went on to be active in broadcasting and recitals.
From 1954 to 1962 Joachim taught singing at the Schola Cantorum
; from 1963 she was a professor at the Paris Conservatoire
.
(title role), lieder by Berg (Grand Prix du Disque
1950), Brahms, Schumann, and Weber (Grand Prix du Disque 1959), art songs by Debussy (Grand Prix du Disque 1949), Gounod and Nat, as well as anthologies of songs by Les Six
, and traditional French and German songs. Radio broadcasts covered another Opéra-Comique performance of Pelléas et Mélisande with Jansen, conducted by Jean Fournet
(12 February 1955), plus many songs and recitals, particularly of 20th century repertoire.
’s Les bas fonds
(the voice of a cabaret singer) in 1936, and in La Marseillaise in 1937 (Madame de Saint-Laurent, singing and accompanying herself). She appeared and sang in the 1943 film Les anges du péché
(Robert Bresson
), and in 1951 La dernière étape by Wanda Jakubowska. In 1946 she became one of the first people to sing 'Feuilles mortes
' by Kosma
, with Yves Montand, in Les Portes de la nuit by Marcel Carné
.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, and later a vocal teacher.
Early life
Daughter of Herman Joachim and Suzanne ChaigneauSuzanne Chaigneau
Suzanne Chaigneau, born Chailly-en-Bière, 14 June 1875, died Paris 13 April 1946, was a French violinist and chamber musician....
, and grand-daughter of the violinist Joseph Joachim
Joseph Joachim
Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant violinists of the 19th century.-Origins:...
, she learnt violin and piano as a child. She was bilingual in German and French.
Just before the outbreak of the First World War she and her parents left Paris for Berlin, staying in a pension in the Lutherstrasse for the remainder of the war. Her father died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1917, and due to the hardships of life in the German capital Joachim was sent back to France in the autumn of 1918, living with an aunt before her mother returned in 1920.
Due to health problems and her mother’s professional life-style, Joachim was educated privately, firstly by Jeanne Favart. Afternoons were devoted to music studies : violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and solfège
Solfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
.
As a child she heard musicians such as Emanuel Feuermann
Emanuel Feuermann
Emanuel Feuermann was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century.-Biography:...
, Claire Croiza
Claire Croiza
Claire Croiza was a French mezzo-soprano and an influential teacher of singers.-Career:Claire Croiza was born in Paris, the daughter of an expatriate American father and an Italian mother, and as a child she excelled at piano and singing...
, Germaine Lubin
Germaine Lubin
Germaine Lubin was a French dramatic soprano best known for her association with the music of Richard Wagner...
, Marya Freund and the Capet Quartet
Capet Quartet
The Capet String Quartet was a French musical ensemble founded in 1893, which remained in existence until 1928 or later. It made a number of recordings and was considered one of the leading string quartets of its time.- Personnel :...
. Through the social circle of Jean Gehret
Jean Gehret
Jean Gehret was an actor and director, appearing in a few films directed by Jean Renoir, including La Chienne and Madame Bovary .-External links:...
the 12-year old Joachim went to plays and attended the last seasons of the Diaghilev Ballet
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
. During the summer of 1926 and for several months in 1927 Irène accompanied her mother who undertook two visits as a teacher with the Yanker family in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. This again brought the young Joachim into close contact with leading musicians, such as Thibaud
Jacques Thibaud
Jacques Thibaud was a French violinist.Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won the conservatory's violin prize with Pierre Monteux...
, Tansman
Alexandre Tansman
Alexandre Tansman was a Polish-born composer and virtuoso pianist. He spent his early years in his native Poland, but lived in France for most of his life...
, Casals
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...
and Ravel. Back in France she stopped her violin studies but continued with the piano.
She married firstly Roger Weber on 29 July 1929 and on 3 July 1930 her son Alain was born. However, she divorced Weber soon after, and suffered a period of depression and uncertainty about the direction of her life. She married secondly Jean-Louis Lévi Alvarès (great grand son of David Lévi Alvarès) film producer, in November 1955.
At the instigation of Jean Gehret, in 1933 Joachim began singing lessons, with Germaine Chevalet; her progress was such that she entered the competition to enrol at the Paris Conservatoire, joining the class of Cesbron-Viseur in October 1935, later studying with Georges Viseur (solfège) and Pierre Chéreau. During her Conservatoire years Joachim supported herself by singing in choirs, and also sang at the Concerts du Societe 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....
.
Career
In her final months at the Conservatoire in 1938 Joachim made her first audio recordings, of lieder by Brahms and Mozart. She would follow these during the Second World War with not only the first complete recording of Pelléas et MélisandePelléas 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...
, but vocal music by Yves Nat
Yves Nat
Yves Nat was a French pianist and composer.-Biography:Yves Nat was born in Béziers and showed an early aptitude for both piano and composition. By the age of seven he was allowed to improvise each Sunday at the organ of Béziers' cathedral during mass...
and excerpts from Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes is an opéra-ballet consisting of a prologue and four entrées by Jean-Philippe Rameau with libretto by Louis Fuzelier...
.
Joachim 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...
on 2 February 1939 as Nanthilde in Le Bon Roi Dagobert by Samuel-Rousseau
Marcel Samuel-Rousseau
Marcel Samuel-Rousseau was a French composer, organist, and opera director. He studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire and was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1905. He was the organist at Saint-Séverin from 1919–1922 and president of the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique...
. She then sang Micaela, Hélène (Une éducation manquée
Une éducation manquée
Une éducation manquée is an opérette in one act and nine scenes by Emmanuel Chabrier. The French libretto was by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo. Composed in 1878-79, the work, which is set in the 18th century, is in a lively, light operetta style in which Chabrier excelled and had perfected in...
), Marguerite (Fragonard), the Countess (The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
), Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), the wife (Le pauvre matelot
Le pauvre matelot
Le pauvre matelot is a three act opera composed by Darius Milhaud with libretto by Jean Cocteau. Its first performance was at the Opéra-Comique on December 16, 1927. Le pauvre matelot is short, lasting about 35 minutes when performed, and is dedicated to Henri Sauguet...
), Rosenn (Le roi d'Ys
Le roi d'Ys
is an opera in three acts and five tableaux by the French composer Édouard Lalo, to a libretto by Édouard Blau, based on the old Breton legend of the drowned city of Ys, which was, according to the legend, the capital of the kingdom of Cornouaille. It premiered at the Opéra Comique in Paris on 7...
) and Sophie (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....
). She also created Léda (Amphytrion 38), Ginèvra (Ginèvra), Isabelle (Guignol), Madeleine (Marion) and Azénor (Le Rossignol de Saint-Malo). At the German invasion in 1940, along with many other Parisians she fled the city, but returned to the capital after the armistice.
Joachim is particularly remembered for her interpretation of Mélisande in 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...
which she first sang at the Opéra-Comique on 12 September 1940, reprising it in France and abroad up to 1952; she recorded the role in April and May 1941 under Roger Désormière. She had studied Mélisande with Georges Viseur, who had worked alongside André Messager
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
during the opera's premiere run, and she also had several meetings in Paris with Mary Garden
Mary Garden
Mary Garden , was a Scottish operatic soprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century...
, who created Mélisande and who particularly helped Joachim with stage deportment for the role. Her first performance alongside Jacques Jansen
Jacques Jansen
Jacques Jansen was a French baryton-martin singer, particularly associated with the role of Pelléas but also active in operetta and on the concert platform, and later as a teacher.-Life and career:Jansen had a wide musical and artistic education; after studying the violin in Paris, he took lessons...
as Pelléas took place at the Opéra-Comique on 20 April 1941. Joachim's fame in Pelléas et Mélisande brought about an invitation from the Propagandastaffel to sing in Berlin, which she refused. During the war years, especially from 1942 she joined other artists in the Front National; her home was used for passing messages among the group.
She sang Rozenn (Le roi d'Ys
Le roi d'Ys
is an opera in three acts and five tableaux by the French composer Édouard Lalo, to a libretto by Édouard Blau, based on the old Breton legend of the drowned city of Ys, which was, according to the legend, the capital of the kingdom of Cornouaille. It premiered at the Opéra Comique in Paris on 7...
) at both the Salle Favart and the Salle Garnier, as well as Mélisande in 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....
at the Opéra. While her operatic career continued, the post-war years saw Joachim develop a fruitful relationship in recital
Recital
A recital is a musical performance. It can highlight a single performer, sometimes accompanied by piano, or a performance of the works of a single composer.The invention of the solo piano recital has been attributed to Franz Liszt....
with Jane Bathori
Jane Bathori
Jane Bathori was a French opera singer. Born in Paris, France, she was famous on the operatic stage and important in the development of contemporary French music....
; later in the 1950s, with other accompanists she made several broadcasts for French radio. She participated in the premiere of Le soleil des eaux by Boulez as well as of works by Dutilleux, Wiener and Nigg
Serge Nigg
-Biography:After initial studies with Ginette Martenot, Nigg entered the Paris Conservatory in 1941 and studied harmony with Olivier Messiaen and counterpoint with Simone Plé-Caussade. In 1945, he met René Leibowitz, who introduced him to the twelve-tone technique of composition...
. She was renowned for her impeccable diction.
Irène Joachim also sang German lieder such as Schubert, Schumann, Berg: she won a 'Grand Prix du Disque
Grand Prix du Disque
The Grand Prix du Disque is the premier French award for musical recordings. The award was inaugurated by l'Académie Charles Cros in 1948 and offers prizes in various categories. The categories vary from year to year, and multiple awards are often made in any one category in the same year...
' in 1959 for her recording of lieder by Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
(with Hélène Boschi at the piano).In 1956 Joachim’s contract at the Opera-Comique concluded, but she went on to be active in broadcasting and recitals.
From 1954 to 1962 Joachim taught singing at the Schola Cantorum
Schola Cantorum
The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private music school in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera...
; from 1963 she was a professor at the Paris Conservatoire
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
.
Recordings
As well as the classic recording of Pelléas et Mélisande, Joachim’s commercial discography includes excerpts from Ginèvra by DelannoyDelannoy
De Lannoy or Delannoy is a surname, and may refer to;* Albert Delannoy, long jumper* Charles de Lannoy, soldier and statesman* Colinet de Lannoy, composer* Eustachius De Lannoy, naval commander* Guillebert de Lannoy, traveller and diplomat...
(title role), lieder by Berg (Grand Prix du Disque
Grand Prix du Disque
The Grand Prix du Disque is the premier French award for musical recordings. The award was inaugurated by l'Académie Charles Cros in 1948 and offers prizes in various categories. The categories vary from year to year, and multiple awards are often made in any one category in the same year...
1950), Brahms, Schumann, and Weber (Grand Prix du Disque 1959), art songs by Debussy (Grand Prix du Disque 1949), Gounod and Nat, as well as anthologies of songs by Les Six
Les Six
Les six is a name, inspired by The Five, given in 1920 by critic Henri Collet in an article titled "" to a group of six composers working in Montparnasse whose music is often seen as a reaction against the musical style of Richard Wagner and impressionist music.-Members:Formally, the Groupe des...
, and traditional French and German songs. Radio broadcasts covered another Opéra-Comique performance of Pelléas et Mélisande with Jansen, conducted by Jean Fournet
Jean Fournet
Jean Fournet was a French conductor.Fournet’s father was a flutist who gave him some instruction on the flute and music theory. Fournet was then trained at the Conservatoire de Paris in flute by Gaston Blanquart and Marcel Moyse, and conducting by Philippe Gaubert...
(12 February 1955), plus many songs and recitals, particularly of 20th century repertoire.
Filmography
Joachim’s first films date from her time at the Conservatoire; she took part in Jean RenoirJean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
’s Les bas fonds
The Lower Depths (1936 film)
The Lower Depths is a 1936 French drama film directed by Jean Renoir, based on a play of the same title by Maxim Gorky. The film is an example of the poetic realism.Akira Kurosawa also directed a Japanese film version of Gorky's play, Donzoko...
(the voice of a cabaret singer) in 1936, and in La Marseillaise in 1937 (Madame de Saint-Laurent, singing and accompanying herself). She appeared and sang in the 1943 film Les anges du péché
Angels of the Streets
Angels of the Streets was the first feature film directed by Robert Bresson. Made in 1943, nine years after his comedy short Les affaires publiques, it was Bresson's only film released during the German occupation of France.Unlike the films Bresson is most famous for, Angels of the Streets was...
(Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson
-Life and career:Bresson was born at Bromont-Lamothe, Puy-de-Dôme, the son of Marie-Élisabeth and Léon Bresson. Little is known of his early life and the year of his birth, 1901 or 1907, varies depending on the source. He was educated at Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, close to Paris, and...
), and in 1951 La dernière étape by Wanda Jakubowska. In 1946 she became one of the first people to sing 'Feuilles mortes
Autumn Leaves (song)
"Autumn Leaves" is a much-recorded popular song. Originally it was a 1945 French song "Les Feuilles mortes" with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prévert. Yves Montand introduced "Les feuilles mortes" in 1946 in the film Les Portes de la Nuit...
' by Kosma
Joseph Kosma
Joseph Kosma was a Hungarian-French composer, of Jewish background.-Biography:Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Akos. A maternal relative was the photographer László Moholy-Nagy, and another relative was the conductor Georg...
, with Yves Montand, in Les Portes de la nuit by Marcel Carné
Marcel Carné
-Biography:Born in Paris, France, the son of a cabinet maker whose wife died when their son was five, Carné began his career as a film critic, becoming editor of the weekly publication, Hebdo-Films, and working for Cinémagazine and Cinémonde between 1929 and 1933. In the same period he worked in...
.