Olénine d’Alheim, Marie (Alexeievna)

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Olénine d’Alheim, Marie (Alexeievna)

Olénine d’Alheim, Marie (Alexeievna) , Russian soprano, sister of Alexander Olenin; b. Istomino, Riazan district, Oct. 2, 1869; d. Moscow, Aug. 27, 1970. She studied in Russia and later in Paris, where she made her debut in 1896. Through her brother she met Stasov, Balakirev, and Cui, and became interested in Russian vocal music. In 1893 she married the French writer Pierre d’Alheim (1862–1922), tr. of the text of Boris Godunov; together they organized, in Moscow and in Paris, numerous concerts and lectures on Russian music, particularly on Mussorgsky. She was an outstanding interpreter of Russian songs; publ. a book, Le Legs de Mussorgsky (Paris, 1908). In 1935 she settled in Paris as a voice teacher. In 1949 she joined the French Communist Party and in 1959 she returned to Russia.

—Nicolas Slominsky/Laura Kaun/Dennis McIntire