Maggie Teyte: A Vocal Portrait (review)

Naxos's booklet describes the voice heard on these discs as "one of marked purity with perfect placement of tone, allied to considerable spontaneity of presence together with her strong and vivid intuitive skills as an interpreter and great care for diction, all of which contributed to her pre-eminence as an artist of international renown."

What cold, almost clinical language to use in referring to the art of Maggie Teyte, especially considering that numerous contemporaries of hers would fit exactly the same description, whether Elisabeth Schumann, Ninon Vallin, or Bidú Sayão. To experience what set Teyte apart, listen to one of the most famous of all her recordings, Périchole's declaration of love, committed to disc in 1932. Just consider the first three phrases: "Tu n'es pas beau, tu n'es pas riche, tu manques tout à fait d'esprit." She sings with the most extraordinary buoyancy, the tone warm and with a marvelous sheen, the characterization knowing and alluring, yet full of the sweetness that colors this, Périchole's most endearing moment. Teyte is absolutely convincing in speeding up the third phrase, perhaps by way of communcating Périchole's essential impetuosity and vitality. As she proceeds through the aria, one is constantly aware of the sheer femininity of this voice and the supreme technical command with which she manages it, from the interpolated low A-flats in the second verse (on the word "brigand") to the magical float of "j'ai honte à l'avouer." Throughout one is conscious of the elegance with which Teyte treats this number, which she delivers with the same attention to musical and textual niceties that she would bring to a Debussy mélodie.

Teyte remains one of her generation's most satisfying sopranos on disc and can be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates superb singing (particularly when the transfers are expertly done, as they are by Ward Marston in Naxos's set). The fact that Teyte sang so superbly even when entering her seventh decade speaks volumes for her two years of work with Jean de Reszke (the booklet identifies her as his most successful pupil—Sayão, were she alive today, would no doubt have something to say about that).

Née Tate, the soprano (1888-1976), a native of Wolverhampton, England, studied only briefly in London before coming to de Reszke in Paris. She must surely have shown extraordinary promise to have been worthy of such tutelage when barely sixteen. After joining the Opéra-Comique, she was asked to follow Mary Garden as Mélisande, which brought her to Debussy for coaching. The fruits of their work together clearly remained with her throughout her long career, enabling her to become one of the most formidable of all interpreters of his vocal music. She collaborated with other important masters of mélodie as well, including Reynaldo Hahn, her concert partner for her Paris debut in 1906.

Teyte sang with London's Beecham Opera Company, then later at Covent Garden, and with opera companies in Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia. Her career was interrupted by marriage for nine years, but she returned to performing in 1930 with success, her activities including a return to Covent Garden. Her repertoire extended from Cherubino to Butterfly, along with both Hänsel and Gretel, Massenet's Cendrillon, and a number of parts in English operas. Her recording of Manon with Heddle Nash has always been a great favorite among collectors—would that she had recorded many more operatic roles.

Although Teyte was already recording in 1907, the excitement generated during the second half of her career arose from the triumph of her recordings with Alfred Cortot in the mid-1930s. She sang comparatively little opera after that, excepting Mé...