Jeanne Hatto

Hatto in Die Walküre, 1906

Jeanne Hatto 30 January 1879 – ? March 1958 was a French soprano. She was born in Saint-Amour-Bellevue in Burgundy, and studied in Lyons and at the Paris Conservatoire. She made her début at the Paris Opéra in 1899. Her repertoire ranged from Rameau to Wagner.^[1]

In the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, David Cummings writes of Hatto, "Her powerful voice and commanding stage presence made her a favourite in the dramatic repertory". Among her mainstream roles listed in that article are Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Marguerite in Faust and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. In less familiar repertoire she played Telaira in Rameau's Castor et Pollux, and Diana in the same composer's Hippolyte et Aricie and the title role in Ernest Reyer's Salammbô. She created roles in operas by Camille Saint-Saëns (Les barbares, 1901), Xavier Leroux (Astarté, 1901) and Ernest Chausson (Le roi Arthus, 1903).^[1]

In 1904 Hatto was the soloist in the first performance of Ravel's song cycle Shéhérazade, and was the dedicatee of the first and longest song of the cycle, "Asie".^[2]

A road in Hatto's native town is named in her honour.^[3]

Notes

1. Cummings David. "Hatto, Jeanne", The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Oxford University Press, retrieved 26 June 2015 (subscription required)
2. Orenstein, p. 224
3. "Rue Jeanne Hatto" Google Maps, retrieved 27 June 2015

References

• Orenstein, Arbie (1991) [1975]. Ravel: Man and Musician. Mineola, US: Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-26633-6.