Odette Le Fontenay (October 6, 1885 – November 24, 1965), born Odette Le Flaguais, was a French soprano opera singer and music educator based in the United States after 1913. She sang with the

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 operat ...

in its 1916–1917 season.

Early life and education

Odette Le Flaguais was born in Paris and raised in London, the daughter of Louis Adrien Georges Le Flaguais and Félicie McDougald Bouligny. Her parents divorced in 1895. She was a descendant of Spanish Louisiana governor

Francisco Bouligny Francisco Domingo Joseph Bouligny y Paret (; 4 September 1736 – 25 November 1800) was a high-ranking Spanish military and political figure in Spanish Louisiana. As a francophone in Spanish service, he was a bridge between Creole and French Lou ...

, and her grandfather was congressman

John Edward Bouligny John Edward Bouligny (February 5, 1824 – February 20, 1864) was an American politician who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the state of Louisiana. He served one term as a member of the Know Nothing movement's ant ...

. She studied in Italy and Spain, in her youth.

Career

Le Fontenay began her career at Covent Garden in London and with the Opéra-Comique in Paris, before moving to the United States. In 1914 she sang as a soloist with the

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

band. In 1916 she sang in ''Melinda and her Sisters'', a "suffrage operetta", with

Frances Alda Frances Davis Alda (31 May 1879 – 18 September 1952) was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic lyric soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique ...

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Marie Dressler Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. In 1914, she was in the first full-length film comedy. She ...

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, and other performers at the

Waldorf Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultz ...

's grand ballroom. In the 1916–1917 season, she sang with the

in New York, debuting in the same season as soprano

Marie Sundelius Marie Sundelius (born Marie Sundborg; 4 February 1882 – 27 June 1958) was a Swedish-American classical soprano. She sang for many years with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and later embarked on a second career as a celebrated voice tea ...

. She had roles in ''

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 inclu ...

'', ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'', and ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

''. She toured across the United States, giving concerts and recitals, after her season with the Metropolitan Opera. A 1921 reviewer said that Le Fontenay gave a "rather unusual and altogether interesting" program and that she "displayed a voice of presentable quality and serviceable vocal equipment". She made recordings for the

Edison Records Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's founda ...

and

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

companies, and even performed "duets" with recordings of her own voice in concerts, as a demonstration of Edison's "re-creation" technology. Later, in the 1920s, Le Fontenay sang on radio programs, sometimes sharing the program with her husband. After a divorce, she taught voice at the

Ethel Walker School The Ethel Walker School, also commonly referred to as “Walker’s”, is a private, college preparatory, boarding and day school for girls in grades 6 through 12 plus postgraduate located in Simsbury, Connecticut. History Founded in 1911, ...

Simsbury, Connecticut Simsbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 24,517 at the 2020 census. The town was incorporated as Connecticut's 21st town in May 1670. History Early history At the beginning of the 17th century, the ...

, from 1935 to 1943.

Personal life

In 1914, Odette Le Fontenay married fellow opera singer Philippe Gustave Coudert (1879–1944), a baritone, in New York. They had three children (Odette-Corinne, Marie Yolande, and Philippe Jr.) and divorced in 1932. She died in 1965, aged 80 years, in Florida.

References

External links

A 1918 Edison recording of Odette Le Fontenay
at the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive.
Four 1917 recordings of Odette Le Fontenay
from the

National Jukebox The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. * "Odette Le Flaguais et Odette Le Fontenay sont la même personne" ''La généalogie d'Hervé'' (March 26, 2016). A blog post about Odette Le Fontenay, with documents and images; in French. * Ashot Arakelyan
"Odette Le Fontenay"
''Forgotten Opera Singers'' (September 17, 2016). A blog post about Odette Le Fontenay, with images and timelines; in English. {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Fontenay, Odette 1885 births 1965 deaths French operatic sopranos 20th-century French women opera singers French people of Spanish descent French people of American descent Singers from Paris