Odette Le Fontenay

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 in its 1916–1917 season.

Odette Le Fontenay
Odette Le Fontenay, from a 1917 publication.
Odette Le Fontenay, from a 1917 publication.
Born
Odette Le Flaguais

October 6, 1885
Paris
DiedNovember 24, 1965
Broward County, Florida
NationalityFrench, American
Other namesOdette le Fontenay, Odette le F. Coudert
Occupationopera singer
Known forsang with the Metropolitan Opera (1916–1917)

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, and her grandfather was congressman John Edward Bouligny.[1][2] She studied in Italy and Spain, in her youth.[3]

Career

Le Fontenay began her career at Covent Garden in London[4] 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 band.[5][6] In 1916 she sang in Melinda and her Sisters, a "suffrage operetta",[7] with Frances Alda, Emmy Wehlen, Marie Dressler, Marie Doro, and other performers at the Waldorf Astoria's grand ballroom.[8] In the 1916–1917 season, she sang with the Metropolitan Opera in New York,[9] debuting in the same season as soprano Marie Sundelius.[10] She had roles in The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, and Hansel and Gretel.

She toured across the United States, giving concerts and recitals, after her season with the Metropolitan Opera.[3][11] 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".[12] She made recordings for the Edison Records and Victor companies, and even performed "duets" with recordings of her own voice in concerts, as a demonstration of Edison's "re-creation" technology.[13][14]

Later, in the 1920s, Le Fontenay sang on radio programs,[15][16] sometimes sharing the program with her husband.[17] After a divorce, she taught voice at the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut, 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.[18] They had three children (Odette-Corinne, Marie Yolande, and Philippe Jr.) and divorced in 1932.[19] She died in 1965, aged 80 years, in Florida.[20]

References
  1. Pencalet, Hervé (March 26, 2016). "Odette Le Flaguais et Odette Le Fontenay sont la même personne" [Odette Le Flaguais and Odette Le Fontenay are the same person]. La généalogie d'Hervé (in French). Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  2. "Obituary for Marie-Yolande "Yo" Coudert McLennan". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. December 11, 2002 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Odette le Fontenay to Concertize". Musical Courier. Vol. LXXIV, no. 6. February 8, 1917. p. 53.
  4. Paul, Morris (December 1916). "Metropolitan Opens Brilliantly". The Theatre. Vol. XXIV. p. 344.
  5. "Amusements". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. September 4, 1914. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Kreitner, Mona Bulpitt (2007). "A splendid group of American girls": The women who sang with the Sousa Band (Ph.D.). Memphis, Tennessee: University of Memphis. pp. 153–154 – via ProQuest.
  7. Winter, Kendall H. (2017). 'Melinda and Her Sisters': Reconsidering a Suffrage Operetta as Pageantry (M.A.). Medford, Massachusetts: Tufts University. p. 7. hdl:10427/014511.
  8. "Suffrage Opera Tonight". The New York Times. February 18, 1916. p. 11. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  9. "New Operas and Singers Announced in Metropolitan Prospectus". Musical America. Vol. XXIV, no. 19. October 7, 1916. p. 4.
  10. "Metropolitan Again Sponsors American Opera". Musical America. Vol. XXIV, no. 24. October 14, 1916. p. 8.
  11. "To Give Concert Here". Santa Ana Register. Santa Ana, California. October 16, 1917. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Odette Le Fontenay". Musical Courier. Vol. LXXXIII, no. 23. December 8, 1921. p. 30.
  13. "Odette Le Fontenay". The Jeffersonian-Democrat. Brookville, Pennsylvania. December 2, 1920. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Mme. Odette Le Fontenay Will be Heard Here in Notable Recital". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, California. October 7, 1917. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Radio--Eastern Program". The Evening Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. February 3, 1927. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Radio". Pottsville Republican. Pottsville, Pennsylvania. January 25, 1926. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Radio Programs: Where to Listen". The Daily Herald. Passaic, New Jersey. June 27, 1929. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Coudert–Le Fontenay". The Sun. New York, New York. March 18, 1914. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Divorce Suits Filed". Nevada State Journal. Reno, Nevada. July 27, 1932. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Opera Star Fontenay Dies Here". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. November 26, 1965. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
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