Danco, Suzanne
Danco, Suzanne
Danco, Suzanne , admired Belgian soprano; b. Brussels, Jan. 22, 1911. She began her training at the Brussels Cons.; after winning the Vienna vocal compe tition (1936), she studied with Fernando Carpi in Prague. She then went to Italy, where she made her debut as a concert artist in 1940. In 1941 she made her operatic debut as Fiordiligi in Genoa, and later sang in various Italian operatic centers. She had much success at Milan’s La Scala, where she sang in the local premieres of Peter Grimes (as Ellen Orford, 1947) and Oedipus Rex (as Jocasta, 1948). From 1948 to 1951 she appeared at the Glyndebourne Festivals. She sang in the U.S. for the first time in 1950. In 1951 she appeared as Mimi at London’s Covent Garden. In later years, she concentrated on concert engagements and also was active as a teacher at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. Among her other notables roles were Donna Anna, Mélisande, and Berg’s Marie. She was especially praised as a concert artist, excelling in the French repertory, particularly in works by Berlioz, Debussy, and Ravel
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire