{{Short description|French singer (1896–1979)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox person |name = Madeleine Grey |image = Maurice Ravel, Hélène Jourdan-Morhange, Madeleine Grey.jpg |image_size = |caption = From left to right: Hélène Jourdan-Morhange, Madeleine Grey, Germaine Malançon and Maurice Ravel in 1925 |birth_name = Madeleine Nathalie Grumberg |birth_date = {{birth-date|11 June 1896}} |birth_place = Villaines-la-Juhel |death_date = {{death-date and age|13 March 1979|11 June 1896}} |death_place = 18th arrondissement of Paris |body_discovered = |resting_place = |other_names = |known_for = |education = |alma_mater = Paris Conservatoire |employer = |organization = |movement = |occupation = classical singer |years_active = |title = |height = |term = |predecessor = |successor = |party = |opponents = |boards = |awards = |spouse = |partner = |children = |parents = |relations = |callsign = |signature = |website = |footnotes = }}
'''Madeleine Grey''' (11 June 1896 – 13 March 1979) was a French classical singer whose voice is usually described as soprano but which also encompassed a mezzo-soprano repertoire.
==Early life== '''Madeleine Grey''' (née '''Madeleine Nathalie Grumberg''') was born in Villaines-la-Juhel, Mayenne, in France in 1896 into a Jewish background.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://classicalmusicandmusicians.com/2019/10/21/songs-of-the-auvergne-madeleine-grey-soprano/|title=Madeleine Grey's Recordings of Songs of the Auvergne -|first=Steven|last=Honig|date=21 October 2019}}</ref> Her musical studies took her to the Paris Conservatoire to study both the piano, with Alfred Cortot, and singing, with Amédée-Louis Hettich (nl). Her exceptional promise as a singer was soon recognised, and she gave her début concert with the Pasdeloup Orchestra in Paris in 1919.
==Career== This first concert was attended by Gabriel Fauré and Maurice Ravel, both of whom went on to work closely with her in performances of their works. Fauré accompanied her in the first performance of his song cycle ''Mirages'' in December 1919. For Ravel she gave the first performances of the orchestral version of his ''Deux mélodies hébraïques'' in 1920, and the ''Chansons madécasses'' in 1926. Her other associations with Ravel included a concert tour with him in Spain in 1928, participation in the Ciboure festival for the composer in 1930, and singing at a memorial concert after his death. Joseph Canteloube dedicated to her a set of his ''Chants d'Auvergne'', and she gave the first performance of them in 1926, achieving considerable popular success. Her repertoire also included works by Ottorino Respighi, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Honegger.
Madeleine Grey travelled widely, especially in Italy and the United States, appearing at many festivals. She sometimes experienced the rising influence of anti-semitism, as in 1933 when her engagement at a concert in Florence was abruptly cancelled and she was replaced by another singer. When the war with Germany broke out in 1939 she was abroad, and did not return to France until 1947. She lived in Paris again from 1952, and died there in 1979.
==Reputation== Ravel provided an early account of Madeleine Grey's voice in a letter recommending her to the conductor Ernest Ansermet: "She is one of the most remarkable interpreters: an attractive voice, fairly powerful, and very clear. And, very notably, perfect diction. Thanks to her, people have heard ''Shéhérazade'' as something other than a symphonic poem."<ref>Maurice Ravel. ''Lettres, écrits, entretiens''; [edited by] Arbie Orenstein. Paris: Flammarion, 1989. p.189 (Letter 180). {{ISBN|2-08-066103-5}} ; {{OCLC|20025651}}.</ref> This view has been endorsed by a modern critic on the basis of her recordings: "Her voice is strong and clear, her diction excellent, her interpretations were individual and intelligent."<ref>John Steane, in: [http://www.grovemusic.com Grove Music Online]; edited by L. Macy; article on Madeleine Grey (accessed 12 March 2007)</ref>
==Recordings== Madeleine Grey's legacy of recordings is small but significant. In 1930, she made the first recording of a selection of the ''Chants d'Auvergne'' by Canteloube (chosen from series I-III and filling 7 sides of 78 rpm records, 1 one of which was not issued).<ref>{{cite web|title=Élie Cohen and Georges Truc: Obscure Conductors|url=http://www.lafolia.com/elie-cohen-and-georges-truc-obscure-conductors/|website=lafolia.com|date=August 2007|accessdate=23 February 2016}}</ref> In 1932, she also made recordings of Ravel's ''Chansons madécasses'', the ''Deux mélodies hébraïques'' and the ''Chanson hébraïque'' (6 sides of 78 rpm) which were supervised by the composer and which therefore give a unique insight into his expectations of performance. All of these recordings have been re-issued on CD (Pearl GEMM 0013).
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Publications== Grey, Madeleine. "Souvenirs d'une interprète", in ''Revue musicale'', n.185–187 (1938), ({{p.|367}}).
==External links== {{commons category|Madeleine Grey}} *{{Youtube|LspY3PF3qH4|French Soprano Madeleine Grey: ''Chants d'Auvergne'' (1930) Part 1}} *{{Youtube|jeN3wK6AErc|French Soprano Madeleine Grey: ''Chants d'Auvergne'' (1930) Part 2}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Madeleine}} Category:1896 births Category:1979 deaths Category:People from Mayenne Category:French operatic mezzo-sopranos Category:20th-century French women singers