Nicole Buloze

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Nicole Buloze (born November 26, 1942 in Geneva ; † November 25, 1991 ibid) was a Swiss opera singer ( mezzo-soprano ), dancer and choreographer .

Life

Career

Buloze began her career at the age of 15 as a ballet dancer at the Grand Théâtre de Genève (Geneva Opera), where Ernest Ansermet discovered her still untrained voice and in January 1963 gave her the role of Yniold in Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande .

After Buloze had to reduce dancing for health reasons in the mid-1960s, she met the ballet teacher Boris Kniaseff (1900–1975), who came from Russia , who did the “barre à terre” (literally translated: pole on the floor ), a mixture of the classical and modern dance, combined with stretching and concentration exercises, as an innovation. Buloze became his assistant. In 1964 she was appointed ballet master and choreographer at the Tokaï Ballet in Tokyo for three years .

In 1967 she returned to Geneva. She worked as a ballet teacher during the day and sang in the choir of the Grand Théâtre de Genève in the evening . At the Conservatoire de musique de Genève (Geneva Conservatory), she completed her vocal studies, which she completed as a coloratura soprano with a special award from Patek Philippe . Buloze then gained his first opera experiences under Herbert Graf in the opera studio at the Grand Théâtre Geneva together with José van Dam .

Opera work

She then moved to Munich for private reasons. After a first audition at the Bavarian State Opera , Wolfgang Sawallisch classified her voice as a mezzo-soprano. She learned a new repertoire in a hurry and received a contract at the Staatstheater Darmstadt . She began with The Barber of Baghdad , in which she sang her arias in pointe shoes , and with La forza del destino . Buloze stayed in Darmstadt for three years . During this time she had several guest contracts, including in Ulm , Essen and at the Schwetzingen Festival and was soon also in demand in Switzerland. She sang alongside Sylvia Geszty at the Heidelberg Castle Festival: The funny women of Windsor by Otto Nicolai and Don Giovanni by Giuseppe Gazzaniga . She became known thanks to her threefold stage talents - ballet, voice and interpretation.

In 1977 she was engaged at Theater Basel and sang as a guest on German, Swiss and French stages. Under the direction of Paul Sacher , she sang Arthur Honegger's dance of death . She regularly sang in the Zurich Opera in Massenet's opera Werther the Charlotte alongside Neil Shicoff . Several guest contracts followed, such as at the Lucerne Festival in 1983 . She then returned to her hometown of Geneva, where she sang at the Grand Théâtre between 1982 and 1985 ( Gianni Schicchi , La sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini , Giulio Cesare , La Périchole , Norma , Les vêpres siciliennes ) and was also a soloist at various concerts. She appeared in several French opera houses, such as in Montpellier, Besançon, Dijon, Nancy and 1985 at the Opéra National de Lyon ( Pelléas et Mélisande ) .

In 1986 she founded the Esope Opera School (Espace Scénique Opéra) in Geneva , where she trained young artists in singing, dance and drama.

As a divorced, single mother, Nicole Buloze was also politically active, drawing the attention of the Federal Council in Bern to the inadequate social security of Swiss artists very early on. She died of cancer at the age of 49.

Her older daughter Sophie Ellen Frank (born 1963 in Osaka ) became a soprano and director and, together with Paul Hess, directs the Piccolo Opera - Ecole d´Opéra pour Enfants in Geneva.

Her younger daughter Jeanne Polcari (born in Geneva) is a dance teacher and choreographer.

Discography

  • Jacques Offenbach: La Périchole . Marc Soustrot (conductor), Roberto Benzi (conductor), Jane Rhodes (mezzo soprano), Nicole Buloze (mezzo soprano), Orchester de la Suisse Romande (orchestra), et al., Double CD, 2008 (recording 1982)
  • Giuseppe Verdi: Les vêpres siciliennes . Donato Renzetti (conductor), Nicole Buloze (as Ninetta), et al., CD, Orchestra of the Grand Théâtre de Genève (recorded 1985)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Database of the Grand Théâtre de Genève
  2. ^ Jean-Luc Rieder: Opéra: nouvelle école à Genève. In: Journal de Genève . April 19, 1989
  3. ^ Sophie Ellen Frank. Cantatrice, professor of chant et metteur en scene. In: Website of the Espace Opéra - Ecole d´Opéra
personal data
SURNAME Buloze, Nicole
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss opera singer (mezzo-soprano), dancer and choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Geneva
DATE OF DEATH November 25, 1991
Place of death Geneva