Jenny Dufau (18 July 1878 – 29 August 1924) was an opera singer born in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

who found her success in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Early life and education

Dufau was born on 18 July 1878 in

Rothau Rothau () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of France. The communes cooperate i ...

, Alsace-Lorraine, the daughter of linen merchant Alfred Dufau. As a girl, she trained to work as a

potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

, her father's trade. She studied music in Berlin with

Etelka Gerster Etelka Gerster (25 June 1855, Košice20 August 1920, Pontecchio) was a Hungarian soprano. She debuted in Italy in 1876 and sang in London the following year. In 1878, she was performing in the Academy of Music where she was considered one of ...

and made her debut in 1906 at Weimar as Queen in ''

Les Huguenots () is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work suc ...

''. She also studied with Mathilde Marchesi, Paul Vidal, and Alessandro Guagni Benvenuti.

Career

Dufau began her career in 1910 in Italy at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

, as Filina in '' Mignon''. In 1910 and 1911 she performed in various Italian houses and at Lirico of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

and Royal of Atene. At the end of 1911 she went to the United States, engaged by

Andreas Dippel Andreas Dippel (30 November 1866 – 12 May 1932) was a German-born operatic tenor and impresario who from 1908 to 1910 was the joint manager (with Giulio Gatti-Casazza) of the New York Metropolitan Opera. Biography Born Johann Andreas Dippel i ...

for the

Chicago Grand Opera Company Two grand opera companies in Chicago, Illinois, have gone by the name Chicago Grand Opera Company during the first half of the 20th century. Like many opera ventures in Chicago, both succumbed to financial difficulties within a few years, and i ...

. In Chicago, Dufau was a lead soprano, nicknamed the "smallest soprano". She performed in operas such as '' Die Walküre'', ''

The Barber of Seville ''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 base ...

'', and ''

I gioielli della Madonna ''I gioielli della Madonna'' (English: ''The Jewels of the Madonna'') is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to an Italian libretto by and Enrico Golisciani, based on news accounts of a real event. It was first performed at the on 23 ...

''. In 1914, she sang the title role in Massenet's ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...

'' for the

Boston Opera Company The Boston Opera Company (BOC) was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts, that was active from 1909 to 1915. History The company was founded in 1908 by Bostonian millionaire Eben Dyer Jordan, Jr. and impresario Henry Russel ...

. In 1916, Dufau moved to New York, and shifted her focus to singing concerts nationwide, notably at the Ravinia Festival, Hamilton Park (Chicago), and Symphony Hall, Boston. The American composer Frank La Forge wrote songs for her, which she performed at these concerts. Dufau wrote songs for her concerts, including "A Soldier I Shall Be", a patriotic wartime anthem. Dufau also participated in a burgeoning art form called "Cinema Concerts", in which she sang with

silent films A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...

. In 1916, she performed with the film ''The Law Decides''. She wrote at least one silent film scenario, ''My Prince Charming''. Dufau returned to Europe following the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and she performed in 1918 at Royal of Madrid in ''

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 ...

''. Her last tracked performance was in '' Lucia di Lammermoor'' given at Teatro Toselli of

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

Personal life

Dufau was visiting her family in Alsace in 1914, when she narrowly escaped execution as a spy. She died on 29 August 1924 in Pau, France. There is an archive of her papers at the

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

in Chicago.

References

External links

*
"Dufau, Jenny"
in ''International Who's Who in Music and Musical Gazetteer'', p. 162. César Saerchinger (ed.), New York 1918. Current Literature Publishing Company
Jenny Dufau Papers
at The Newberry {{DEFAULTSORT:Dufau, Jenny 1878 births 1924 deaths People from Alsace-Lorraine French operatic sopranos 19th-century French women opera singers French women in World War I Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States