Heldy, Fanny (real name, Marguerite Virginia Emma Clémentine Deceuninck)

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Heldy, Fanny (real name, Marguerite Virginia Emma Clémentine Deceuninck)

Heldy, Fanny (real name, Marguerite Virginia Emma Clémentine Deceuninck), Belgian-born French soprano; b. Ath, near Liège, Feb. 29, 1888; d. Paris, Dec. 13, 1973. She studied in Liège and Brussels. She made her operatic debut as Elena in Gunsbourg’s Ivan le Terrible at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, where she sang regularly while accepting guest engagements in Monte Carlo, Warsaw, and St. Petersburg. In 1917 she made her Paris debut as Violetta at the Opéra-Comique, and sang there until 1920; then was a member of the Paris Opéra (1920–39). In 1926 and 1928 she sang at London’s Covent Garden. Among her admired portrayals were Marguerite, Nedda, Mélisande, Louise, Manon, Concepción, and Thaïs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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Heldy, Fanny (real name, Marguerite Virginia Emma Clémentine Deceuninck)

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