Great Historical Singers (Regine Crespin)

Regine Crespin was a French soprano who had a career in opera and on the concert stage spanning nearly forty years. I call her the female Jose Van Dam, because she had a unique elegance, and sensitivity in her singing, which was similar to his. Her voice was clearly very large, but she still was very skillful at singing softly. The Decca recording company called her "the French canon" because of the size of her voice. Crespin was a very versatile singer, who sang both operas and recitals very effectively. She was primarily known for her interpretations of Wagner and Strauss heroines on the opera stage, but she sang various repertoire in French, German, Italian, Russian and English throughout her career. Crespin was born in 1927 to parents who owned a shoe store. She had a difficult upbringing partially due to her mother's alcoholism and the fact that it was World War 2. Initially, Crespin intended to be a pharmacist, but failed to pass the baccalaureat, which is a test taken at the end of secondary education. Following that, Crespin began taking singing lessons, and won a competion. She went on to study at the Conseevatorie de Paris where she was very successful. She made her professional debut in 1949 as Charlotte in Massenet's "Werther." She began her career by singing in opera houses in the French provinces, before becoming a star at the Paris opera in the mid 1950s. While at the Paris opera, she took part in the Paris premiere of Poulenc's "Dialogues of the Carmellites" as Lidoine. Crespin recorded Lidione to great acclaim under Pierre Deveraux at around the same time. She is absolutely stunning in that role, so I highly recommend that recording. In 1958, Crespin was invited to sing the role of Kundry in Wagner's "Parsifal" by Wagner's grandson, Wieland Wagner, which launched Crespin's international career. In 1962, Crespin joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, where she would remain on and off for 27 years. She sang in 129 performances in all at the Met with many international stars. In the 1970s, Crespin began to have some vocal trouble, and therefore, switched to Mezzo roles. Her timbre did not change much when she made this switch, but her low range was very strong. In fact, her low range was atypical for a soprano. There is a video of her singing Schubert's "Der tod und das madchen" in which she sings a low D at the end. While she was at the Met Crespin sang internationally ad opera companies throughout the world, and also she was a top knotch recitalist. She was famous for German lieder, and the songs of Debussy, Berlioz and Poulenc. What made Crespin so great was her beautiful voice, musicality, and versatility. She was a singer who excelled in a lot of different repertoire. She took part in many great recordings, including several different recordings of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen." She recorded both Sieglinde and Brunnhilde to great acclaim under Solti and Karajan. She also recorded the Marschallin in Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier" under Solti. She was featured in a video of "The Dialogues of the Carmelittes" in English. Believe me her voice is huge. Regine Crespin was an artist above all else. She could sang Debussy's "Chanson de Billitis" in which the character is a sixteen year old convincingly, and also sing Brunnhilde and Sieglinde. All I can say is wow to that.