Gerville-Réache, Jeanne

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Gerville-Réache, Jeanne

Gerville-Réache, Jeanne, French contralto; b. Orthez, March 26, 1882; d. N.Y., Jan. 5, 1915. She was a student of Rosine Laborde and Pauline Viardot-Garcia in Paris, where she made her operatic debut as Orféo at the Opéra-Comique in 1899. She continued to sing there until 1903, during which time she was chosen to create the role of Geneviéve in Pelleas et Melisande on April 30, 1902. In 1903-4 she appeared at Brussels- Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, and then sang Orféo at London’s Covent Garden in 1905. In 1907 she made her first appearance at the Manhattan Opera in N.Y. as Cieca, and sang there until 1910. She then appeared in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Montreal. Among her other roles were Dalila, Clytemnestra, and Herodiade.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire