Bad news never coming alone, as soon as we resigned ourselves to saying goodbye to Mady Mesplé, that we learned of the death of Janine Reiss, who was her accompanist, rehearsal coach and friend for so many lyrical adventures . The one that would have been 100 years old in 2021 will forever be associated with the greatest triumphs of lyric art in the second half of the 20th century.
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A woman in the shadows who knew how to make herself indispensable, she was what is known in France as "song leader", an expression she hated: "A chef is someone who directs. You can lead an orchestra but you don't lead a voice ” . She preferred the Italian expression "maestro di canto".
Lyric gods
But at the Paris Opera, Rolf Liebermann appointed her "director of musical studies". This pianist and harpsichordist had a passion for the pegged voice, and her role consisted all her life in helping the greatest singers to prepare their roles, attaching as much importance to the text (whatever the language), to the style,
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