Colette Boky (born Marie-Rose Élisabeth Giroux; June 4, 1935),
[ is a French-Canadian operatic soprano, particularly associated with lyric roles in the French, Italian, and German repertories.
]
Life and career
Born Marie-Rose Élisabeth Giroux, in Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, she studied voice at the École de musique Vincent-d'Indy from 1953–55, and then privately with Laurette Bailly. After winning a voice competition in 1958, she entered the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal
The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (CMQM) is a music conservatory located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In addition to the Montreal region, the school takes in students from nearby cities, including Granby, Joliette, St-Jean, S ...
, where she was a pupil of Roy Royal and Otto-Werner Mueller. In 1961, she made her stage debut with the "Théâtre lyrique de Nouvelle-France", as Rosina in ''Il barbiere di Siviglia
''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based ...
''. With the same company she sang ''Lakmé
''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille.
The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in ...
'', the following year.[Colette Boky]
at Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage.
Available for ...
, accessed August 22, 2019
After winning the 1962 Prix d'Europe, she went to Paris to continue her studies with Janine Micheau and Raoul Jobin. She then won a second prize at the Geneva International Competition for musical performers, which led to her European debut in 1964, in Haydn's '' Lo speziale'' in Versailles. She was invited at the Bremen Opera for the 1964-65 season, where she sang Despina in Mozart's ''Cosi fan tutte
Cosi, COSI or CoSi may refer to:
* '' Così'', a 1992 play by Louis Nowra
** ''Cosi'' (film), 1996, based on the play
* Così (restaurant), an American fast-casual restaurant chain
* Compton Spectrometer and Imager, or COSI, a NASA telescope to ...
'', and in Stravinski's ''Le Rossignol
, description = ''conte lyrique''
, librettist =
, based_on =
, premiere_date =
, premiere_location = Palais Garnier, Paris
''The Nightingale'' (Russian: Соловей – ''Solovyei''; French: ''Le Rossignol'') ...
''. In 1965, she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...
as Sandrina in Mozart's ''La finta giardiniera
' ("The Pretend Garden-Girl"), K. 196, is an Italian-language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old and it received its first performance on 13 January at the in Munich. There is deb ...
'', followed by the lead soprano role in Rossini's '' La scala di seta'' at the Munich Festival.
In 1966, Boky began an association with the Vienna Volksoper
The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...
, where she sang several roles. She also appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic
The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.
The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...
Orchestra in Orff's ''Carmina Burana
''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...
'', and Haydn's ''Die Schöpfung
''The Creation'' (german: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1797 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn (Hoboken catalogue, Hob. XXI:2), and considered by many to be one of his masterpieces. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the ...
'', under Karl Richter.
Boky's career became truly international in 1967, with her Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
debut as The Queen of The Night in Mozart's ''The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...
''. She was to remain at the Met until 1979, singing some 25 leading roles there, such as Juliette, Marguerite, Pamina, Adina, Lucia, Gilda, Violetta, the four heroines of Offenbach's ''Les contes d'Hoffmann
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...
'', Sophie in ''Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...
'' by Richard Strauss, among others. She also appeared in several US opera houses in Hartford, Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco.
Boky began teaching at L'Université du Québec
The University of Quebec (French: ''Université du Québec'') is a system of ten provincially run public universities in Quebec, Canada. Its headquarters are in Quebec City. The university coordinates 300 programs for over 87,000 students. The ...
in 1981, and was artistic director of the opera studio there. She was awarded with the Calixa-Lavallée Award The Calixa-Lavallée Award (french: Prix Calixa-Lavallée) is a music award created in 1959. It is granted by the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal (SSJBM) to a Quebecer having distinguished themself in the field of music.http://degree.youthl ...
in 1971, and the Prix Denise Pelletier
The Prix Denise-Pelletier is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, given to individuals for an outstanding career in the performing arts. It is awarded to a creator, performer, stage-craftsman or person who ha ...
in 1986. She made several recordings during her career including three solo recital discs. The first on the RCA Victor Canada label (LSC-2693) from the mid-1960s is "Colette Boky Chante/Sings Strauss" and includes operetta and light Viennese classics and waltzes, Guy Luypaerts conducting; the second recorded in 1977 is on Radio Canada International (RCI-463) and includes melodies by Claude Debussy and Gabriel Faure with Janine Lachance at the piano; the third is a CD collection of "Sacred Arias" by Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart, Gounod, and Schubert on the Fonovox label, issued in 1996.
References
Sources
* Gingras, Claude. "Colette Boky veut refaire son image", ''Montreal La Presse'', February 24, 1975
* Fitzgerald, John. "Boky builds bridge of songs", ''Montreal Gazette'', September 17, 1977
* Dawson, Eric. "Realization of a 10-year dream fulfilled with the Merry Widow", ''Calgary Herald'', January 13, 1979
External links
*
Colette Boky
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boky, Colette
1935 births
Living people
Canadian operatic sopranos
Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal alumni
École de musique Vincent-d'Indy alumni
Knights of the National Order of Quebec
Officers of the Order of Canada
Prix Denise-Pelletier winners
Singers from Montreal