Huguette Tourangeau facts for kids
Huguette Tourangeau (born August 12, 1938 – died April 21, 2018) was a famous French-Canadian opera singer. She was a mezzo-soprano, which means she sang in the middle range of female voices. Huguette was especially known for singing in French and Italian operas.
Contents
Life and Career Highlights
Huguette Tourangeau was born in Montreal, Quebec. She studied piano and teaching at Marguerite-Bourgeoys College. In 1958, she went to the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. There, she learned singing from Ruzena Herlinger.
Early Performances
In 1962, Huguette sang as a soloist in a big musical work called Vespro della Beata Vergine by Claudio Monteverdi. Her first opera role was Mercédès in Carmen in 1964. She performed this in Montreal, with Zubin Mehta as the conductor.
Joining the Metropolitan Opera
In 1964, Huguette won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. This was a big competition for opera singers. That same year, she sang Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at the Stratford Festival.
From 1965 to 1966, she toured North America. She sang the main role of Carmen in 56 cities. Around this time, she started working closely with famous singer Dame Joan Sutherland and conductor Richard Bonynge. They performed and recorded many operas together.
Major Roles and Appearances
Huguette sang in many important opera houses around the world.
- In Seattle, she was Malika in Lakmé.
- In London, she sang Urbain in Les Huguenots.
- In San Francisco, she performed as Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda and Adalgisa in Norma.
- She also sang Parséīs in Esclarmonde and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus.
In 1967 and 1968, Huguette performed as Carmen with the New York City Opera. She made her official debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on November 28, 1973. Her role was Nicklausse in The Tales of Hoffmann, alongside Plácido Domingo. Later, she sang Dorabella in Così fan tutte (1975–76). She also played Cherubino again in The Marriage of Figaro (1976).
In 1973, Huguette was in a film called Carmen: the Dream and the Destiny. It showed a production of Carmen where she played Carmen and Plácido Domingo was Don José. Her last role at the Met was Zerlina in Don Giovanni in 1978. She performed in a staged opera for the last time in Lyon in 1980, in Werther.
Other Important Roles
Huguette also sang in other famous operas:
- Bertarido in Rodelinda at the Holland Festival.
- Arsace in Semiramide and Mignon in Mignon at the Vancouver Opera.
- Kaled in Le roi de Lahore at the Vancouver Opera.
- The main role in La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein at the Santa Fe Opera.
Legacy and Recognition
In 1977, Huguette Tourangeau was the first person to receive the "Canadian Music Council" artist of the year award. This showed how much her talent was valued. In July 1997, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada. This is one of Canada's highest honors. Her husband, Barry Thompson, was also involved in opera. He managed the Vancouver Opera and the Edmonton Opera Association.
Death
Huguette Tourangeau passed away on April 21, 2018, at the age of 79.
Recordings
Huguette Tourangeau sang in many recordings, especially with Joan Sutherland on Decca Records. Some of these include:
- Les Huguenots (1969)
- Messiah (1970)
- Rigoletto (1971)
- Lucia di Lammermoor (1971)
- Les contes d'Hoffmann (1971)
- Maria Stuarda (1975)
- L'oracolo (1975)
- Esclarmonde (1975)
- Le roi de Lahore (1979)
- Rodelinda (1985)
She also recorded Thérèse (1974) and El amor brujo (1981). Huguette released two solo albums. One was "Arias from Forgotten Operas" (1970). The other featured songs by Massenet (1975).
Videography
- Delibes: Lakmé (with Sutherland; Bonynge, Ayrton, 1976) [live] Kultur
