English opera singer, Maggie Teyte, possessed a pure soprano that endeared her to audiences as one of the foremost interpreters of French art song. She made her Paris debut at the Theatre National de l'Opera-Comique in 1907, and made her London debut in Mozart’s THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO in 1910. She spent World War I in America and returned to London to appear in MONSEUIR BEAUCAIRE (1919). In 1936 she made a series of remarkable recordings of French songs accompanied by pianist Alfred Cortot. Teyte finally made her New York debut in 1948 at the Town Hall, later singing in PELLEAS ET MELISANDE at City Center Opera. After a famed 1951 performance of Purcell’s DIDO AND AENEAS at London’s Mermaid Theatre, she gave only recitals, finally retiring in 1955.
