Renée Doria (13 February 1921 – 6 March 2021) was a French opera singer, one of the leading
lyric 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 of ...
s of her era in France.
Biography
Born Renée Dumazert in
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
, France, after a thorough musical training (
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...
,
solfege,
harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...
) she turned to vocal study with Umberto Valdarmini, and made her singing debut in concert at the age of 18. Her official operatic debut took place in 1942, at the
Opéra de Marseille
The Opéra de Marseille, known today as the Opéra Municipal, is an opera company located in Marseille, France. In 1685, the city was the second in France after Bordeaux to have an opera house which was erected on a tennis court.
However, the fi ...
, as Rosina in ''
Il barbiere di Siviglia
''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 bas ...
''.
After singing Constance in ''
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
' () ( K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's ''Belmont und Constanze, oder D ...
'' in
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...
under
Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100.
Hahn was born in Caracas b ...
, and the three heroines (Olympia, Giulietta, Antonia) in ''
Les contes d'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 in ...
'' in
Strasbourg, opposite the great French bass-baritone
Vanni Marcoux
Jean-Émile Diogène Marcoux (12 June 1877 – 22 October 1962) was a French operatic bass-baritone, known professionally as Vanni Marcoux (sometimes hyphenated as Vanni-Marcoux). He was particularly associated with the French and Italian re ...
, she made her Paris debut at the
Gaîté-Lyrique in 1943, as
Lakmé
''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille.
The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart ...
, and the following year, made her debut 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 ...
, in the same role. Her debut at the
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...
in 1947, as the Queen of the Night in ''
The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inc ...
'', was highly successful. Other roles at that house included: Leila 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 ...
'', the title role in ''
Mireille
Mireille () is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name ''Mirèio'' (or ''Mirèlha'' in the classical norm of Occitan, ). It could be related to the Occitan verb ''mirar'' "to look, to admire" or to the given names ''Miriam'' ...
'', Marguerite in ''
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540).
The wiktionary:erudite, erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a ...
'', Juliette in ''
Roméo et Juliette'', Ophélie in ''
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 ...
'', ''
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. It was fi ...
'', ''
Thaïs
Thaïs or Thais ( el, Θαΐς; flourished 4th century BC) was a famous Greek ''hetaira'' who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns. Likely from Athens, she is most famous for instigating the burning of Persepolis. At the time, Thaï ...
'', as well as Fiordiligi in ''
Così fan tutte
(''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte ...
'', 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 ...
'', and Violetta in ''
La traviata
''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on '' La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his o ...
'', etc.
Doria also sang in
baroque music such as
Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera a ...
's ''
Les Indes galantes
(French: "The Amorous Indies") is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Louis Fuzelier. It takes the form of an '' opéra-ballet'' with a prologue and (in its final form) four ''entrées'' (acts). Following an allegorical prologue, ...
'', and contemporary works, such as
Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
's ''
L'heure espagnole
''L'heure espagnole'' is a French one-act opera from 1911, described as a ''comédie musicale'', with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on Franc-Nohain's 1904 play ('comédie-bouffe') of the same nameStoullig E. ' ...
'', and
Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kn ...
's ''
Dialogues des Carmélites
' (''Dialogues of the Carmelites''), FP 159, is an opera in three acts, divided into twelve scenes with linking orchestral interludes, with music and libretto by Francis Poulenc, completed in 1956. The composer's second opera, Poulenc wrote the ...
''. In thirty years of career, Doria sang an estimated sixty roles.
Renée Doria made several recordings, most notably, complete studio recordings of ''Contes d'Hoffmann'' (1948), ''Thais'' (1961), ''Mireille'' (1962), Massenet's ''Sapho'' (1978), and excerpts of ''Rigoletto'', ''Faust'', and ''Manon'', opposite
Alain Vanzo
Alain Vanzo (April 2, 1928 – January 27, 2002) was a French opera singer and composer, one of few French tenors of international standing in the postwar era. He, along with such singers as Henri Legay and the Canadian Léopold Simoneau, repre ...
, as well as recitals of arias and songs.
She resided in
La Celle-sur-Morin
La Celle-sur-Morin (, literally ''La Celle on Morin'') is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.
Demographics
The inhabitants are called ''Cellois''.
See also
*Communes of the Seine-et- ...
. Doria died in March 2021, less than a month after her 100th birthday.
Renée Doria, grande soprano colorature française, est morte
/ref>
Sources
* Alain Pâris
Alain Pâris (born 22 November 1947) is a French conductor and musicologist.
Biography
Born in Paris, Alain Pâris was trained as a pianist and has a law degree. He studied conducting with Pierre Dervaux, Paul Paray and Georg Solti and won the ...
, ''Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interprétation musicale au XX siècle'' (2 vols), Ed. Robert Laffont (Bouquins, Paris 1982, 4th ed. 1995, 5th Edn 2004).
* Rochet, Jean-Michel
Rencontre avec une musicienne née : Renée Doria, l'étoile de l'Opéra-Comique
''Actu.fr''. 2013-07-29.
1921 births
2021 deaths
20th-century French women opera singers
French centenarians
French operatic sopranos
People from Perpignan
Women centenarians
{{France-opera-singer-stub