Maggie Teyte

Dame Maggie Teyte (April 17 1888 - May 26 1976) was an English operatic soprano and interpreter of French art song.

Life and career

Margaret Tate was born in Wolverhampton, England, one of ten children of Jacob James Tate, a successful wine and spirit merchant and proprietor of public houses and later lodgings. Her parents were keen amateur musicians and opera enthusiasts. She was the sister of composer James W. Tate.

Early years

The family moved to London in 1898. Teyte attended St. Joseph's Convent School, Snow Hill, and then the Royal School of Music. After her father died in 1903, she went to Paris in 1904, becoming a pupil of the celebrated tenor Jean de Reszke. She made her first public appearance in Paris in 1906 when she sang Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and Zerlina in Don Giovanni, both conducted by Reynaldo Hahn. Her professional debut took place at the Opera House in Monte Carlo on February 1 1907, where she performed Tyrcis in Jacques Offenbach's Myriame et Daphné with Paderewski. The following week, again at the Opera House in Monte Carlo, she sang Zerlina. Finding that her surname was generally mispronounced in France, she changed it from Tate to Teyte before joining the Opéra-Comique in Paris. After a few small parts, she was cast as Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande by Debussy, replacing the originator of the role, Mary Garden. To prepare for Pelléas et Mélisande, she studied with Debussy himself, and she is the only singer ever to be accompanied by Debussy on the piano with an orchestra in public. (See also: Beau Soir) In 1910, Sir Thomas Beecham cast her as Cherubino and Mélisande and also as Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail for his London season. In 1909 she married her first husband, Eugene de Plumon, a French advocate. The marriage ended in divorce in 1915.

Despite her early singing successes, Teyte did not easily establish herself in the main opera houses. Instead, she moved to America and performed with the Chicago Opera Company from 1911-1914 and the Boston Opera Company from 1914-1917, singing in Philadelphia and elsewhere, but not in New York, though she created the title role in Henry Hadley's opera Bianca at Manhattan's Park Theater in 1918. Returning to Britain in 1919, she created the rôle of Lady Mary Carlisle in André Messager’s operetta Monsieur Beaucaire at the Prince's Theatre. She married for a second time in 1921, to Canadian millionaire Sherwin Cottingham, and went into semi-retirement until 1930, when she performed as Mélisande and played the title-rôle in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

Later years

Teyte divorced again in 1931, and she attempted to resume her career after an absence of nearly a decade. After difficulty in reviving her career, she ended up performing music hall and variety (24 performances a week) at the Victoria Palace in London. Finally, in 1936, her recordings of Debussy songs accompanied by Alfred Cortot attracted attention, and recordings remained an important factor in her renewed fame, as she gained a reputation in England and the United States as the leading French art song interpreter of her time. She sang at the Royal Opera House in 1936-37 in Hansel und Gretel, as Eurydice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and as Butterfly. In 1938-39 she broadcast performances of Massenet’s Manon in English, in addition to an ill-advised Eva in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger. She also appeared in operetta and musical comedy between the wars.

During World War II, Teyte sang in a series of concerts sponsored by the French Committee of National Liberation for which she received the Gold Cross of Lorraine for services to France. She made her first New York appearances in 1948, including a Town Hall recital followed by performances of Pelléas at the New York City Center Opera. She continued to record and perform in opera until 1951, making her final appearance in the part of Belinda (to Kirsten Flagstad’s Dido) in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the Mermaid Theatre in London. Her final concert appearance was at the Royal Festival Hall on April 22 1956. She spent her last years teaching.

In 1958, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Also in 1958, her autobiography Star at the Door was published. She died in London at the age of 88.

The Musicians Benevolent Fund sponsors a prize in her honour. The Maggie Teyte Prize of £2,000, which is coupled with the Miriam Licette Scholarship of £3,000, is open to women singers under the age of 30. The winner is offered a recital in association with the Friends of Covent Garden for the Royal Opera House.