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Louise GrandjeanFrench soprano Louise Grandjean (1870-1934) had a reputation as a great interpreter of the Wagner roles. She was hired immediately for the Opéra-Comique after very successful studies at the Conservatoire National Superieur. Her debut (1893) was in Le Pre-aux-Clercs. She was Alice Ford in the first French Falstaff (1894). Her Paris Opéra debut (1895) was as the Page in Tannhäuser, and even in that role she exhibited a sumptuous voice of dramatic timbre. During her tenure she participated in the creation of Déjanire in Astarté, Phedre in Ariane, Anita in La Catalane, and Nemorosa in La Foret. It was at the Paris Opéra that she developed her reputation as a Wagnerian, which began with her interpretation of Magdelaine in the first (1897) French Maîtres-Chanteurs (Die Meistersingers). In 1904 she was honored by receiving an invitation to Bayreuth to sing the role of Venus in Tannhäuser. |