Félia Litvinne

Litvinne in 1896. Photo by Aimé Dupont (Newberry Library, Chicago)

Félia Litvinne (11 October 1860, Saint Petersburg – 12 October 1936, Paris) was a Russian-born, French-based dramatic soprano. She was particularly associated with Wagnerian roles, although she also sang a wide range of parts by other opera composers.

Life and career

Born in St Petersburg, Russian Empire as Françoise-Jeanne Schütz in 1860, her father was Russian, and her mother was French-Canadian (from Canada East). After study in Russia, Switzerland and Italy, she became multi-lingual. Then, she moved with her family to Paris, where she studied singing with Madame Barthe-Banderali for three years and took lessons with Pauline Viardot and Victor Maurel. She possessed a wide range, encompassing both mezzo-soprano and soprano coloratura roles. She made her stage debut at the Théâtre-Italien in 1883, as Amelia in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, as a last-minute replacement for Fidès Devriès.

Litvinne's career rapidly became international in scope. During the course of the next three decades she appeared at the Academy of Music in New York, at the Paris Opera, at La Scala in Milan, at the Rome Opera, at La Fenice in Venice, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London and at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels.

Paris became Litvinne's base. She took part in the premieres of three works by Camille Saint-Saëns, Hélène, L'ancêtre and Déjanire, as well as of Camille Erlanger's Bacchus triomphant. Livinne also won acclaim for her splendid singing in revivals of two 18th-century operas by Gluck, namely Alceste and Armide. In 1915, she sang Aida at Monte Carlo opposite Enrico Caruso. Her last operatic appearances were at Vichy in 1919 but she continued giving recitals until 1924.