Géori Boué

Georgette "Géori" Boué (16 October 1918 – 5 January 2017) was a French soprano, particularly associated with the French repertory, especially Marguérite, '' Thais'' and Salomé (Massenet). She was born in Toulouse. Following her career in France and other European centres, she was a teacher and "perceptive observer of the French operatic scene".Pines, Roger. Obituary - Géori Boué. ''Opera'', March 2017, Vol.68, No.3, p305-6.

Life and career

Boué studied at the Music Conservatory of her native city ( solfege, piano, harp, voice) with Claude Jean. After winning a first prize in a vocal competition, she made her debut at the Capitole de Toulouse in 1934, aged only 16, in small roles, such as Urbain in ''Les Huguenots'', Siebel in ''Faust'', Stéfano in '' Roméo et Juliette'', quickly followed by bigger parts such as the lead role in ''Mireille'' and Micaëla in '' Carmen''.

She made her Paris debut at the Opéra-Comique in 1939, as Mimi in ''La Bohème'' (also singing in the 1,000th performance of the work at the Salle Favart on 3 May 1951), and other roles there included: ''Lakmé'', '' Manon'' (singing in the 2,000th performance on 18 January 1952), and '' Ciboulette'' (first performance at the Opéra-Comique). Her debut at the Palais Garnier took place in 1942, as Marguerite in ''Faust'', and she went on to sing roles such as Juliette in ''Roméo et Juliette'', ''Thais'', Salomé in ''Hérodiade'', ''Louise'', Gilda in ''Rigoletto'', Violetta in '' La traviata'', Desdémone in '' Otello'', ''Tosca'', '' Madama Butterfly'', Tatiana in ''Eugene Onegin'', etc.

On the international scene, she appeared at the Liceu in Barcelona, at La Scala in Milan, as Mélisande under Victor De Sabata in 1949, Mexico, Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, and the Bolshoi in Moscow, as Tatyana, in 1956. Her dislike of travel and wish to be with her family meant that she did not sing more widely on the international stage.
She also sang in operettas such as ''La belle Hélène'', ''The Merry Widow'', and in contemporary operas such as ''Le fou'' and ''Les Adieux'' by Marcel Landowski and ''Colombe'' by Jean-Michel Damase.

She was married to French baritone Roger Bourdin in May 1944, with whom she had two daughters, one of whom is Françoise Bourdin. With Bourdin she can be heard in three recordings, ''Faust'' under Thomas Beecham, ''Thaïs'', and a radio recording of '' Véronique''. Boué appeared in the title role of the movie ''La Malibran'', by Sacha Guitry, in 1943, assisted by her ability to accompany herself while singing. She retired from the stage in 1970. As well as ''Faust'' and ''Thaïs'' her recorded legacy includes '' L'Aiglon'', ''Angélique'', ''Paganini'', ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'', ''L'heure espagnole'' and '' Mozart''.

Critics noted Boué's "bright timbre, exquisite diction, considerable interpretative intelligence and impressive gifts as an actress". She died in January 2017 at the age of 98.Décès de Geori Boué : l’une des plus grandes sopranos françaises nous quitte à l’âge de 98 ans
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References

* Alain Pâris, ''Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle'' (2 vols), Éditions Robert Laffont (Bouquins, Paris 1982, 4th Edn. 1995, 5th Edn 2004).
* Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), ''Guide de l’opéra'', Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995).
* ODB : Opéra Passion. Rencontre avec Geori Boué: La Malibran de Sacha Guitry... https://web.archive.org/web/20110824163915/http://odb-opera.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=187

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boue, Geori
1918 births
2017 deaths
French operatic sopranos
Musicians from Toulouse
20th-century French women opera singers