Denise Duval

One of the leading postwar singers in her native France, the soprano Denise Duval was a champion of French repertoire and contemporary composers—combining the two in a unique relationship with the music of Francis Poulenc. Born in 1921 in Paris, her career began in Bordeaux singing standard operatic roles. But when she returned to the capital it was in risqué cabaret at the Folies Bergère, where she learned to dazzle with alluring stagecraft. More conventional work followed at the Opéra-Comique; it was there in 1947 that Poulenc spotted her, beguiled by what he called the “sunlight” of her voice and personality. She premiered the central roles in all his operas—Les Mamelles de Tirésias, the French version of Dialogues des Carmélites, and La voix humaine—as well as the orchestral “monologue” La Dame de Monte-Carlo. Often joined by Poulenc in recitals, she stopped singing in 1965, not long after his death, ending a short career. But she lived on for decades to the age of 94, a celebrated teacher and a legend.