Marie Jeanne La Tour called Jane Mérey (12 October 1872 – ?) was a Belgian opera singer and singing teacher, singer at La Monnaie of Brussels and at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

in Paris.

Career

Born in Ghent, Mérey studied singing with Carlotta Patti and Rosine Laborde in Paris. She made her debut at the Royal Opera of Versailles in November 1893 in the title role of '' Lakmé''. In May 1894, she participated in the premiere of Lucy de Montgomery's ''Aréthuse'' in Monte-Carlo.Lucy de Pembroke, comtesse de Montgomery (1861–1920)
on

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She was hired at La Monnaie where she began in 1894 in the title role of '' Mireille''. On 28 December 1895, she created the title role of Xavier Leroux's ''Évangeline''. On 10 December 1897, she made her debut at the

in the role of '' Mireille''. During the 1898–1899 season, she sang at the . In 1897, she married a young industrialist, Armand Ledocte, to whom she promised to renounce the theatre, but she did not keep this commitment; then her husband sued the theatre directors who hired her. Finally, Mérey pleaded for divorce and won her case on July 26, 1902. In 1903, when she had just been hired at La Monnaie, she was the victim of an assassination attempt by her ex-husband armed with a revolver. She was wounded by a bullet through her hand. The injury was quite serious and she had to be replaced by Lalla Miranda. In 1903 and 1904, she toured the provinces, then Bordeaux and Marseille. From 1906, she taught singing in Paris. She sang in private performances and galas. Remarried in 1908 to the lawyer Arthur Valabrègue,Fiche de Marie Jeanne La Tour
on Geneanet she later taught at

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

, where she still practiced in 1939.

References and notes

;Notes ;References

External links

Jane Mérey
on

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Notice de Jane Mérey
on ''www.artlyriquefr.fr''

on ''forgottenoperasingers.blogspot.com''
Alfred Margis' ''La Valse rose'' by Jane Mérey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mérey, Jane 1872 births Musicians from Ghent Year of death missing Belgian opera singers Belgian expatriates in France