 g(11696700)a(1393595))
| | Litvinne Felia | | soprano |   
| Her father was of Russian, her mother of Canadian origin. At the age of 15 she came to Paris where she studied with Mme Barthe-Banderali, Victor Maurel and with the famous mezzo soprano Pauline Viardot-Garcia. In 1880, she first performed before a Paris audience [no details given]. In 1883, she sang under the name of Felia Litvinova at the Theatre-Italien in Paris as a cover for the suddenly indisposed Fides Devries in the role of Maria Boccanegra (Verdi: Simon Boccangra). Six months later, she officially debuted in the same theatre as Elvira (Verdi: Ernani). Her sister Helene Schuetz married the famous bass Edouard de Reszke (1853-1917), who helped her to start an international career. After guest appearances in Genoa and Barcelona, she went on her first concert tour through North America (including New York) with the Mapleson Opera Company in 1885. From 1886 to 1888 she sang at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, in 1889 she debuted at the Grand Opera Paris as Valentine (Meyerbeer: Les Huguenots). Successful guest performances all over the world followed: Moscow (1889), St. Petersburg (1890), Rome and Venice. From 1890 to 1896 she achieved great triumphs at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan. She was honoured as singer laureate by the Russian Czar, and she directed some opera productions in Russia. At the Metropolitan Opera, New York, she debuted as Marguerite de Valois (Meyerbeer: Les Huguenots) in the 1896/97 season, during which she appeared in nine different parts in 22 performances. Amongst them were also Wagner parts which she had included in her repertory in the meanwhile. From 1889 to 1910 she was a regular guest to Covent Garden, London. In 1901, she was Brussels's first Goetterdaemmerung Bruennhilde, and in 1903, she was Bruennhilde in the first complete "Ring des Nibelungen" at Brussels. She performed three Wagner roles in Paris first productions: In 1899 Isolde (Tristan und Isolde) at the Theatre Nouveau, in 1902 Bruennhilde (Goetterdaemmerung) at the Theatre du Chateau d'Eau, and in 1911 she was the first Bruennhilde in the first Paris complete "Ring des Nibelungen" cycle at the Grand Opera. In addition, she sang Kundry in 1905 at Amsterdam (against protest from Bayreuth, as the work was still exclusive to the Bayreuth Festspiele), and she was also Monte Carlo's first Kundry (Parsifal) in 1913. On 24 Feb 1906, she sang in the world premiere of Camille Saint-Saens's opera "L'Ancetre". She achieved one of her greatest triumphs when she performed the title role in Gluck's "Armide" at the Arena de Beziers in 1905. She continued to appear as a guest in opera houses all over the world until she retired from the stage in Paris in 1917. In 1919, she again appeared on stage at Vichy. Until 1924, she gave concerts and recitals. In 1927, she became professor at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau (France). Among her pupils were Germaine Lubin and Nina Koshetz. Her memoirs were published under the tile "Ma vie et mon art" (Paris 1933). Her dramatic soprano voice was eminently beautiful, full of expressive passion, at the same time of the greatest flexibility. Her interpretation of Gluck's Armide is considered unsurpassed until today. Her recordings with the companies G&T (Paris, 1903), Fonotipia (Paris, 1905), Odeon de Luxe (Paris, 1907) and Pathe are quite rare. |
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