Devriès Family

The Devriès family were operatic singers over three generations, of Dutch descent. They were mainly active in France, Belgium and the USA in the second half of the 19th and the early 20th centuries.Forbes E. Devriès e Vries In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.

Rosa de Vries-van Os

A soprano (12 April 1828, The Hague - 30 March 1889, Rome), who made her debut in The Hague, and sang at the Théâtre d'Orléans in New Orleans, as well as Canada and Italy. She was the mother of Jeanne, Fidès, Maurice and Hermann.

Jeanne Devriès

A soprano, born in New Orleans before 1850, died in 1924, Jeanne Devriès made her debut at the age of 17 at the Paris Théâtre Lyrique in June 1867 as Amina in ''La sonnambula'' (in French), when she was praised by one critic, who nonetheless felt that she was not a new Malibran. Walsh T J. ''Second Empire Opera: The Théâtre Lyrique Paris 1851–1870.'' John Calder (Publishers Ltd), London, 1981.
She took over the title role of Catherine Glover for the premiere of ''La jolie fille de Perth'' at the same theatre (originally intended for Christina Nilsson) later in 1867, and also sang ''Martha'', and Rosina in ''The Barber of Seville''.
She married a Conservatoire prize-winner named Dereims, described as an 'intelligent singer' who sang widely in France and outside, and toured with him to Lisbon in 1878.Soubies A, Malherbe C. ''Histoire de l'opéra comique — La seconde salle Favart 1840–1887.'' Flammarion, Paris, 1893.
Appearing as Jeanne Devriès-Dereims in Brussels, she sang in ''Les diamants de la couronne'' (Catarina) and ''Faust'' (Marguerite) in 1872-1873; in the 1879-80 season the Queen of the Night in '' La flûte enchantée'' (Nuitter/Beaumont).
The rest of her career was spent in France.

Fidès Devriès

Fidès was born in New Orleans on 22 April 1852, and died in 1941, and was a soprano who studied under Duprez. She made her debut as Rose-de-Mai in '' Le val d'Andorre'' at the Théâtre Lyrique in October 1868. After a couple of seasons at La Monnaie in Brussels, she joined the Paris Opera in 1871, where her repertoire included Marguerite in ''Faust'', Ophélie in ''Hamlet'', Isabelle in ''Robert le diable'', Agathe in '' Le Freischutz'', Inès and Sélika in '' L’Africaine'', Elvira in ''Don Juan'', Mathilde in ''Guillaume Tell'' and Eudoxie in '' La Juive''.Gourret J. ''Dictionnaire des Cantatrices de l'Opéra.'' Editions Albatros, Paris, 1987.

In February 1873 Devriès took the solo soprano part in Beethoven’s Choral Symphony with the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, along with an aria from ''Don Giovanni''.

She interrupted her career from April 1874 to 1883, after which she appeared at the Théâtre-Italien directed by Victor Maurel, singing in ''Simon Boccanegra'' and ''Hérodiade''. Back at the Opéra, after touring to Monte-Carlo, Madrid, LisbonCf. Le Ménestrel, year 51-nr.4, 28.12.1884, pages 27 and 30. and the Netherlands, she created the role of Chimène in the premiere of ''Le Cid'' on 30 November 1885. Her final major appearance was as Elsa in the French premiere of ''Lohengrin'' on 3 May 1887, before retiring from the stage in 1889.

Maurice Devriès

Born New York in 1854, died Chicago in 1919, Maurice was a baritone. He made his debut in Liege in 1874 as Nevers in ''Les Huguenots''. Having been engaged at La Monnaie in Brussels, he created the role of Gunther in ''Sigurd'' in 1884. His career also extended to Italy and the USA, where he appeared for the Metropolitan Opera from 1895-98 both in New York and on tour; his repertoire there included '' Roméo et Juliette'', ''Carmen'', ''Faust'', the United States premiere of '' La Navarraise'', '' Pagliacci'', ''Fidelio'', '' La Traviata'', '' Les Pêcheurs de Perles'', ''Cavalleria Rusticana'', '' Manon'', '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' and ''Lohengrin''.Metropolitan Opera archive
Accessed 21 November 2011.

Hermann Devriès

Born in New York in 1858, died in Chicago 1949, Hermann was a baritone, sometimes termed a bass. After studying with Faure he made his debut at the Paris Opera in 1878, and had become a leading bass in the chorus of the Opéra, where his family renown may have led to an engagement at the Opéra-Comique in 1880 for his debut in the first of 50 performances there as Lothario in ''Mignon''. For the Metropolitan Opera he sang from 1898 to 1900 in ''Roméo et Juliette'', ''Il Barbiere di Siviglia'', ''Faust'', ''Les Huguenots'', ''Carmen'', '' Don Giovanni'', ''Das Rheingold'', ''Le Prophète'' and ''Rigoletto''.

David Devriès

Son of Maurice, David Devriès was one of the leading French tenors of his day. After studies at the Paris Conservatoire he had a distinguished career centred on the Paris Opéra-Comique. He left several recordings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devries
Dutch opera singers
French opera singers
Families of classical musicians
Families of Dutch ancestry