Régine Crespin (23 February 1927 – 5 July 2007) was a French soprano who performed in opera and concerts internationally from 1950 to 1989. She began her career singing roles that required a strong and powerful voice, especially those written by composers Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Over time, she expanded her range to include operas from Italy, France, Germany, and Russia, spanning many musical styles. In the early 1970s, she faced vocal challenges and later performed roles typically sung by mezzo-sopranos. Throughout her career, she was praised for the grace, warmth, and sensitivity in her singing, particularly in French and German operas.
Crespin started her career in France, gaining early recognition in the French provinces during the 1950s. She became a regular performer at the Opéra National de Paris in the mid-1950s. Her international fame began in 1958 when she performed the role of Kundry in Richard Wagner’s Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival, a performance widely praised by critics. She later sang at major opera houses across the United States, Europe, and South America. She performed more than 125 times at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City between 1962 and 1987. After retiring from performing in 1989, she taught singing at the Conservatoire de Paris, where she had studied, and gave respected master classes at music schools and universities worldwide.
In 2011, the Marguerite Long–Jacques Thibaud Competition, which originally included only pianists and violinists, was changed to include singers and renamed the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition in honor of Crespin’s contributions to music.
Early life and education: 1927–1950
Crespin was born in Marseille in 1927. At the age of five, she moved with her family to Nîmes, where her parents, Henri and Margherita, opened a large shoe store named Palombo. They operated the store for many years. Crespin’s childhood was difficult because she lived through World War II and her mother struggled with alcoholism. She originally wanted to become a pharmacist but was unable to pursue this goal after failing a school exam called the Baccalauréat at age 16. Her father had not allowed her to study singing before this time. However, because her career options were limited by her exam results, he eventually let her take singing lessons for practical reasons. A few years later, she won first prize in a singing competition. At 19, she traveled to Paris to study at the Conservatoire de Paris, where she learned from teachers Suzanne Cesbon-Viseur, Paul Cabanel, and Georges Jouatte. In 1950, at age 23, she received first prize in the school’s opera and opéra comique competition and second prize in the school’s singing competition. Traditionally, winners of these competitions were offered performance contracts with the Opéra National de Paris. However, Crespin was not given such an offer for unknown reasons. This situation created a difficult relationship between Crespin and the musical community in France that lasted into the early years of her career.
Early career in France: 1950–1957
Her first professional job on stage was in Reims in 1949, where she played Charlotte in the opera Werther. She was still studying at the Conservatoire at that time. Crespin was later hired by the Opéra national du Rhin to perform the role of Elsa in Richard Wagner's Lohengrin, which was sung in French, in Mulhouse in 1950. She received good reviews for this performance, and the Paris Opéra then offered her a contract. She accepted and made her debut there in 1951, singing the role of Elsa. On June 27, 1951, she also made her debut at the Opéra-Comique, performing the title role in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. Later that year, she sang the role of Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana. However, her reception in Paris was not very warm, and it did not improve, even though she performed many roles there from 1951 to 1952. Her contract was not renewed because the director, Maurice Lehmann, believed she was "too fat."
Crespin decided to leave Paris in 1952 and try performing in opera houses in other parts of France. She sang in cities such as Marseille, Nîmes, Nice, Lyon, Bordeaux, and Toulouse. There, she achieved her first major critical success, especially in the roles of the Marschallin in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and Tosca, both performed in French. In 1955, she returned to the Paris Opéra, playing the role of Rezia in Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon. This time, she was warmly welcomed by Paris audiences. Over the next three years, she performed many successful shows there, including as Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi's Otello, Amelia in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Brunehild in Sigurd, and Madame Lidoine in the 1957 Paris premiere of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. She also continued performing in opera houses across France, including in the world premiere of Marcel Mirouze's Geneviève de Paris at the Arena of Fourvière (Lyon) in 1955 and in the world premiere of Henri Tomasi's Sampiero Corsu at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in 1956.
Rise to international success: 1958–1962
Crespin's international career began when she was selected by Wieland Wagner to sing the role of Kundry in Wagner's opera Parsifal at the 1958 Bayreuth Festival, even though she had never performed Wagner's works in German. To learn the role in German, she was guided by Lou Bruder, a professor of German literature who later became her husband. When Crespin first auditioned for Wieland, she assumed he would cast her in roles typically played by blonde singers, such as Elsa, Eva, Sieglinde, and Elisabeth. She was surprised when Wieland asked her to take on Kundry instead. Crespin recalls that when she expressed her surprise, Wieland dismissed the other roles, saying, "Oh, those dummies, I don't like them. Look, you are not born for that, you have a better job to do." Crespin's performance was so well received that she was invited to sing Kundry again at the 1959 and 1960 Bayreuth Festivals. She returned to the festival in 1961 to perform Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre and the third norn in Götterdämmerung.
Crespin's performances of Kundry helped start her international opera career, and she soon performed at famous opera houses around the world. In 1959, she made her debut at La Scala singing the main character in Fedra, an opera by Ildebrando Pizzetti. That same year, she performed Sieglinde in Die Walküre and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera. She sang the Marschallin again at the 1959 Glyndebourne Festival and for her debut at the Royal Opera Covent Garden in 1960. Critics praised her performances, noting her "Gallic finesse, complemented by an ideal sense of proportion, supported by perfect German… she never succumbed to exaggeration, physical or vocal, never seemed fussy, never confused sadness with tragedy." She returned to Covent Garden many times over the next four years, performing roles such as Elsa in Lohengrin and Tosca. In 1961, she performed for the first time at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She made her United States debut in 1962 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, singing Tosca with Giuseppe Zampieri as Cavaradossi and Tito Gobbi as Scarpia. She returned to Chicago many times, performing roles such as Amelia (1963), Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio (1963), Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser (1963), and the title role in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos (1964). In 1966, Crespin performed in Boston for the Peabody Mason Concert series.
International acclaim: 1962–1989
In 1962, she performed as Tosca in Geneva and that same year became a principal soprano at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She sang there every year, except 1974, until 1981. Her first performance at the Met was on November 19, 1962, when she played the Marschallin with Hertha Töpper as Octavian, Otto Edelmann as Baron Ochs, Anneliese Rothenberger as Sophie, and Lorin Maazel conducting. Over the next two decades, she performed many roles at the Met, including Amelia, the title role in Carmen, Charlotte in Werther, Elsa, Giulietta in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Kundry, Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Senta in Der fliegende Holländer, Sieglinde, and Tosca. After leaving the Met in 1981, she returned twice: once for the Met's 100th Anniversary Gala in 1983 and again in April 1987 as Madame de Croissy in Dialogues des Carmélites. In total, she performed in 129 shows at the Met, working with many famous singers of her time.
While at the Met, she also performed internationally. In 1961, she appeared at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires as the Marschallin and Kundry, returning the next year as Tosca, Pénélope by Fauré, and the title role in Iphigénie en Tauride by Gluck. In 1964, she performed Cassandre and Didon in Les Troyens. She later returned to the Teatro Colón as Marguerite, Charlotte in Werther, Carmen, and the Queen of Spades. Her final role there was Madame Flora (Baba) in The Medium in 1987.
In 1966, she sang Ariadne at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and made her first appearance at the San Francisco Opera, performing Cassandre and Didon in Les Troyens. She returned to San Francisco many times, singing roles such as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser (1966), the Marschallin (1967), Sieglinde (1968), Tosca (1970), Santuzza (1976), Mme de Croissy (1982), the title role in La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1983), Madame Flora (1986), and the Countess in The Queen of Spades (1987). In 1963, she made her debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company as Sieglinde, a role she repeated in 1965. Later, she performed with the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Carmen (1978), the Countess (1983), and Madame Flora (1986). In 1967, she performed as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre at the Salzburg Festival under Karajan. She also returned to the Opéra National de Paris several times, notably singing the title role in Pénélope by Fauré. Her final opera performance was in 1989 at the Paris Opéra, where she sang the Countess in The Queen of Spades.
In 1970, after nearly 20 years of positive reviews, she began facing vocal challenges that made her rethink her career. This happened around the same time she ended her marriage to Lou Bruder, whom she had been married to for 11 years. She also dealt with health issues and personal problems, which led her to consider ending her life.
In 1974, she began performing mezzo-soprano roles, such as Charlotte in Werther, to adapt to changes in her voice. Although her voice's sound did not change much, she brought a unique style to these roles. Audiences praised her performances during this time. This period also led her to explore Offenbach's works, and she recorded roles like Métella, the Grand Duchess of Gérolstein, and La Périchole, along with Dulcinée from Don Quichotte by Massenet.
She performed in concert halls worldwide, singing roles such as Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust and Les nuits d'été by Berlioz. In recitals, she excelled in art songs by Schumann, Schubert, and Brahms, as well as French mélodies by Debussy and Poulenc. Her ability to express the meaning of songs made her a memorable performer. She also gave the premiere of Marius Constant's Cinq Chants et une vocalise in 1968.
Later life: 1990–2007
After retiring from singing in 1989, Crespin focused on teaching. She joined the faculty at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1974 and taught there until 1995. Later in her career, she began teaching at the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program and remained involved with the program for more than twenty years. During her retirement, she often traveled to give master classes at universities and music conservatories in Europe and the United States. She continued to teach until her death from liver cancer in Paris on July 5, 2007. Earlier in her life, she had successfully recovered from cancer in 1978 and 1984.
Her memoirs, La vie et l'amour d'une femme (the French title for Schumann’s song cycle Frauenliebe und -leben), share honest details about her personal life and provide unique insights into her professional experiences. The book was first published in French in 1982 and later republished in an expanded version titled À la scène, à la ville—translated as On Stage, Off Stage: A Memoir—in 1997.
Crespin was appointed Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in 1972. She later became an Officer in 1982 and a Commander in 1994.
Recordings
In her autobiography, Crespin discusses the challenges she faced during the recording process. She mentions that the Decca engineers called her, in a friendly way, "the French cannon" because of the strength and size of her voice.
Crespin left behind a large collection of recordings. Early in her career, she made recital recordings for companies such as Véga, Pathé, and Decca. One of her most famous recordings is her performance of Berlioz's Les nuits d'été and Ravel's Shéhérazade with Ernest Ansermet and the Suisse Romande Orchestra. Many people consider this recording one of the best versions available. Other important recordings include her performances as Sieglinde in Die Walküre and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, both made for Decca with the Vienna Philharmonic and conducted by Sir Georg Solti. She also recorded Brünnhilde in Die Walküre with the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Herbert von Karajan for Deutsche Grammophon.
The discography section of her autobiography lists complete works by composers such as Berlioz, Bizet, Fauré, Massenet, Offenbach, Poulenc, Strauss, and Wagner. She received awards from the Académie du Disque lyrique, Grand Prix du Disque, and Académie Charles-Cros.
Starting in 1954, Crespin often appeared in many radio and television broadcasts in France. Most of these broadcasts have been stored by the Institut national de l'audiovisuel.