Pierrette Alarie

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Pierrette Alarie

Pierrette Marguerite Alarie ( November 9, 1921 in Montreal - July 10, 2011 in Victoria , British Columbia ) was a Canadian opera singer (soprano) and vocal teacher.

life and work

The daughter of the conductor Sylva Alarie and the actress and singer Amanda Alarie first studied acting and singing with Jeanne Maubourg and Albert Roberval . At the age of fourteen she made her first radio appearances as an actress and singer of folk music. In 1940 she studied singing with Salvator Issaurel . There she met the tenor Léopold Simoneau , whom she married in 1946.

In 1938 she made her debut with the Variétés lyriques at the Monunent national, with a supporting role in Ralph Benatzky's Singspiel Im Weiße Rößl . As a scholarship holder of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, she continued her education from 1943 to 1946 with Elisabeth Schumann . In 1945 she won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air and made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in December 1945 as Oscar in Un ballo in maschera under the direction of Bruno Walter . In January of the following year she appeared alongside Raoul Robin as Olympia in Hoffmann's Stories under the direction of Wilfrid Pelletier .

Alarie stayed at the Metropolitan Opera for three seasons. In 1949 she went with her husband to the Opéra-Comique in Paris, where she sang the title roles in Lakmé and Lucia di Lammermoor . The Sineneau-Alarie team became successful throughout Europe in the years that followed and performed at festivals in Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Glyndebourne, Vienna, Munich, Baden-Baden and Würzburg. In Aix-en-Provence in 1953 Alarie sang the world premiere of the concert arias Chanson and Romance du Comte Olinos , which Werner Egk had composed for her, in Salzburg in 1959 under the direction of Karl Böhm, Isotta in Richard Strauss ' Die Schweigsame Frau .

Alarie also continued her successful career in North America, as a concert singer, in a duo with her husband or as a Bel Canto Trio with her husband and the baritone Theodor Uppman . In 1961 she received the Grand prix du disque de l'Académie Charles-Cros for a recording of concert arias by Mozert with her husband . She worked in Canada for radio and television, performed at the Montreal Festivals and worked with the Opera Guild of Montreal .

Alarie had her last stage appearance in 1966, her last concert appearance with her husband in Handel's Messiah with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1970 . In 1972 she went to California with her husband and two daughters. After teaching at the École Vincent-d'Indy in the 1960s , she continued this activity at the San Francisco Opera. In 1982 she went to Victoria, where she founded and directed Canada Opera Piccola with her husband .

The name of Pierette Alarie is mentioned together with successful singers from Quebec such as Emma Albani , Béatrice La Palme , Louise Edvina and Pauline Donalda . She and Simoneau were the first to win the Prix ​​de musique Calixa-Lavallée in 1959 . In 1967 she was honored as an officer of the Order of Canada and in 1990 was appointed Chevalière des Ordre des Arts et des Lettres .

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Alarie, Pierrette
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alarie, Pierrette Marguerite (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian opera singer (soprano) and vocal teacher
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Montreal
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 2011
Place of death Victoria , British Columbia