Madeleine Marie Robin (; 29 December 191810 December 1960), generally known as Mado Robin, was a French

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...

. A soprano acuto sfogato, she was noted for her extremely high register.

Early life

Robin was born in Yzeures-sur-Creuse, where she owned the

Château des Vallées Madeleine Marie Robin (; 29 December 191810 December 1960), generally known as Mado Robin, was a French coloratura soprano. A soprano acuto sfogato, she was noted for her extremely high register. Early life Robin was born in Yzeures-sur-Creuse ...

. Mado took her first singing lessons when she was only 13 years old but not with the intention to make a career out of it. Mario Podesta studied with Mado and he, who had been a student of Fernando De Lucia, noticed the extraordinary high register of her voice."Mado Robin"; by Laura Wagner-Semrau. Opera Vivrà. Accessed: 26 January 2018. URL: http://www.operavivra.com/artists/sopranos/mado-robin/

Career

A star of television and radio in the 1950s, she was well known in France. Among her roles were Lakmé, which she recorded for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

in 1952 (with

Georges Sébastian Georges Sébastian (Budapest, August 17, 1903; April 12, 1989, La Hauteville) was a French conductor of Hungarian birth, particularly associated with Wagner and the post-romantic repertory ( Bruckner, Mahler, Richard Strauss). Born György Sebest ...

conducting), ''

Lucia di Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...

'', Olympia in ''

The Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died i ...

'', Gilda in ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had cont ...

'', Rosina in ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an '' opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was b ...

'', and Leïla in ''

Les pêcheurs de perles ' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances ...

''. In 1954, she went to San Francisco to sing Lucia and Gilda, and had a successful tour of the Soviet Union with sixteen concerts over a few weeks.

Personal life

At age 17, she married Alan Smith, an Englishman, who died shortly after World War II in a car crash. She had one daughter.

Death and honors

Robin died in Paris in 1960 from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

(some sources state

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

, others

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

) a few days before the 1500th performance of ''Lakmé'' at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris 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-Italienn ...

, which had organized the event for her birthday. A museum to her life, the Musée Mado Robin, opened in her home town in 2009.

Videography

In 1994, the Bel Canto Society released a video-cassette of her performances, entitled ''Mado Robin Live!''; included are excerpts from ''Lakmé'', '' Mireille'', ''Rigoletto'', ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

'', ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' and ''Lucia di Lammermoor''.

References

External links

Mado Robin biography at Opera Vivrà
* in an excerpt from ''Mireille'' (1958) {{DEFAULTSORT:Robin, Mado 1918 births 1960 deaths People from Indre-et-Loire French operatic sopranos Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in France 20th-century French women opera singers