Suzanne Danco
Encyclopedia
Suzanne Danco was a celebrated Belgian soprano
and mezzo-soprano
.
, and in 1936 she won a vocal competition in Vienna, after which the conductor Erich Kleiber
recommended her to continue her studies in Prague with Fernando Carpi. She appears to have made her concert debut in Italy in 1940, and her stage debut in 1941 at the Genoa Opera, playing Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte
. She appeared in most of the major opera houses in Europe through the 1940s and 1950s, including at La Scala
(Jocasta in Oedipus rex
by Stravinsky, and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes
), at the Teatro di San Carlo
(Marie in Wozzeck
), at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden
(Mimi in La bohème
), and at the festivals of Glyndebourne
and Aix-en-Provence (Fiordiligi and Donna Elvira). In 1951, Danco performed in Boston at a special Peabody Mason Concert series commemorating the Paris Bi-Millennial year.
Although her operatic repertoire was not large, she was noted for the range of musical styles that she undertook, from her Mozart roles (Fiordiligi, Elvira, Cherubino, and the Countess) to modern works by Berg, Britten and Stravinsky. Her tone was described as cool, clear and aristocratic, and well suited to French roles such as Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande
and the Princess in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges
. Yet she also had success in some Italian works such as Il barbiere di Siviglia
and La bohème
.
She is perhaps best remembered as a recitalist and concert artist, again in a wide range of styles from Bach cantatas to song cycles by Britten and de Falla, but especially in the repertoire of French mélodies, where her immaculate diction and innate command of style were heard to greatest advantage.
Suzanne Danco retired from singing in 1970 but remained active as a teacher, both at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and as a regular visitor to the Britten-Pears School at Snape. She died on 10 August 2000 at her home in Fiesole
near Florence.
in the 1940s and 1950s. Some of these are available on CD, including Le nozze di Figaro
, conducted by Erich Kleiber
in 1955 (Decca Legends 466369), Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice
conducted by Hans Rosbaud
in 1956 (Phillips Duo 468537), and Don Giovanni
, also conducted by Rosbaud.
She also worked closely with Ernest Ansermet
and the Suisse Romande Orchestra on a series of recordings in the 1950s, including: Ravel's two one-act operas, L'heure espagnole
and L'enfant et les sortilèges
, Debussy's Le martyre de Saint Sébastien, and Fauré's Requiem
.
There have been a number of CD reissues of Suzanne Danco's recital performances and recordings, and in 2001 a compilation disc was issued, The Singers: Suzanne Danco, recorded 1947-1952 (Decca 467909).
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
and mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
.
Career
Suzanne Danco was born in Brussels and grew up in a Flemish background although French was her native language. She studied at the Conservatoire Royal de BruxellesMusic school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
, and in 1936 she won a vocal competition in Vienna, after which the conductor Erich Kleiber
Erich Kleiber
Erich Kleiber was an Austrian conductor.- Biography :Born in Vienna, Kleiber studied in Prague...
recommended her to continue her studies in Prague with Fernando Carpi. She appears to have made her concert debut in Italy in 1940, and her stage debut in 1941 at the Genoa Opera, playing Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
. She appeared in most of the major opera houses in Europe through the 1940s and 1950s, including at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
(Jocasta in Oedipus rex
Oedipus rex (opera)
Oedipus rex is an "Opera-oratorio after Sophocles" by Igor Stravinsky, scored for orchestra, speaker, soloists, and male chorus. The libretto, based on Sophocles's tragedy, was written by Jean Cocteau in French and then translated by Abbé Jean Daniélou into Latin...
by Stravinsky, and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
), at the Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
(Marie in Wozzeck
Wozzeck
Wozzeck is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama Woyzeck left incomplete by the German playwright Georg Büchner at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchner's...
), at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
(Mimi in La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
), and at the festivals of Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
and Aix-en-Provence (Fiordiligi and Donna Elvira). In 1951, Danco performed in Boston at a special Peabody Mason Concert series commemorating the Paris Bi-Millennial year.
Although her operatic repertoire was not large, she was noted for the range of musical styles that she undertook, from her Mozart roles (Fiordiligi, Elvira, Cherubino, and the Countess) to modern works by Berg, Britten and Stravinsky. Her tone was described as cool, clear and aristocratic, and well suited to French roles such as Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
and the Princess in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges
L'enfant et les sortilèges
L'enfant et les sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties is an opera in one act, with music by Maurice Ravel to a libretto by Colette. It is Ravel's second opera, his first being L'heure espagnole...
. Yet she also had success in some Italian works such as Il barbiere di Siviglia
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
and La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
.
She is perhaps best remembered as a recitalist and concert artist, again in a wide range of styles from Bach cantatas to song cycles by Britten and de Falla, but especially in the repertoire of French mélodies, where her immaculate diction and innate command of style were heard to greatest advantage.
Suzanne Danco retired from singing in 1970 but remained active as a teacher, both at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and as a regular visitor to the Britten-Pears School at Snape. She died on 10 August 2000 at her home in Fiesole
Fiesole
Fiesole is a town and comune of the province of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a famously scenic height above Florence, 8 km NE of that city...
near Florence.
Recordings
Suzanne Danco made many recordings for Decca RecordsDecca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in the 1940s and 1950s. Some of these are available on CD, including Le nozze di Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, conducted by Erich Kleiber
Erich Kleiber
Erich Kleiber was an Austrian conductor.- Biography :Born in Vienna, Kleiber studied in Prague...
in 1955 (Decca Legends 466369), Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice
Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...
conducted by Hans Rosbaud
Hans Rosbaud
Hans Rosbaud , was an Austrian conductor, particularly associated with the music of the twentieth century....
in 1956 (Phillips Duo 468537), and Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, also conducted by Rosbaud.
She also worked closely with Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Alexandre Ansermet was a Swiss conductor.- Biography :Ansermet was born in Vevey, Switzerland. Although he was a contemporary of Wilhelm Furtwängler and Otto Klemperer, Ansermet represents in most ways a very different tradition and approach from those two musicians. Originally he was a...
and the Suisse Romande Orchestra on a series of recordings in the 1950s, including: Ravel's two one-act operas, L'heure espagnole
L'heure espagnole
L'heure espagnole is a one-act opera, described as a comédie musicale, with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on his play of the same name first performed at the Théâtre de l'Odéon on 28 October 1904...
and L'enfant et les sortilèges
L'enfant et les sortilèges
L'enfant et les sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties is an opera in one act, with music by Maurice Ravel to a libretto by Colette. It is Ravel's second opera, his first being L'heure espagnole...
, Debussy's Le martyre de Saint Sébastien, and Fauré's Requiem
Requiem (Fauré)
Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 between 1887 and 1890. This choral–orchestral setting of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead is the best known of his large works. The most famous movement is the soprano aria Pie Jesu...
.
There have been a number of CD reissues of Suzanne Danco's recital performances and recordings, and in 2001 a compilation disc was issued, The Singers: Suzanne Danco, recorded 1947-1952 (Decca 467909).
Further reading
- Scott, M. [1989]. "In harmony (a visit with Suzanne Danco)". Opera news, 53 (15 April 1989), 30.
External links
- Short biography From the Bach Cantatas website. Includes several photographs.