Suzanne Danco
With a curious melding of a bright vocal timbre and a somewhat-reserved temperament, Suzanne Danco became a leading artist among the lyric sopranos of the 1940s and 1950s. She was a frequent visitor to the recording studio and left an appreciable legacy on disc, each one reflecting her high purpose and musical exactitude. Her choice of operatic roles was wide-ranging, extending from Mozart to Alban Berg with several French heroines occupying a central place among them. Danco received her musical training at the Brussels Conservatory, where her studiousness won her numerous awards. Her first experiences on-stage were as a chorus member. While her family was largely unsupportive regarding her desire to become an opera singer, Danco persisted. After winning a prize in Vienna, she followed the advice of conductor Erich Kleiber and traveled to Prague to study with lyric tenor Fernando Carpi. Following a series of recitals in Italy in 1940, Danco's 1941 debut as Fiordiligi attracted notice in Genoa and the role remained a central one in her subsequent career. She presented herself in the same part for a 1947 production at La Scala. An American operatic career failed to materialize: Rudolf Bing's promise of an invitation from the Metropolitan Opera he was about to join remained unfulfilled and Danco did not appear there. Instead, she visited the United States on a recital tour with accompanist Paul Ulanowsky. Danco's stage appearances in Europe compensated for any American disappointments. For La Scala in 1947, she sang Ellen Orford in Milan's first performance of Britten's Peter Grimes. In 1948, she presented her Jocasta in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex to La Scala audiences and in 1949, she ventured Marie in Berg's Wozzeck for the Teatro San Carlo, afterward declaring it a part holding no difficulties for her. Despite her enthusiasm for Italian lyric roles, they seldom came her way. A 1951 production of La bohème at Covent Garden was presented in English and Danco felt her one opportunity to sing Mimi was compromised by an inept translation. Despite her discomfort, she was well-regarded by the critics who found her a fragile, slightly distant heroine whose English was excellent. That outing, however, was both the beginning and the end of her career at the Royal Opera House. Other houses were less indifferent. At Rome, her Mélisande was acclaimed and she became a valued artist at the Edinburgh, Aix-en-Provence, and Glyndebourne festivals. In orchestral concerts, she was regarded as exemplary in Berlioz's Les nuits d'été and Ravel's Shéhérazade, both of which she commercially recorded. In her recital repertory, works by Berlioz, Gounod, Fauré, Chausson, Debussy, Ravel, and Poulenc alternated with ones by Schubert, Schumann, Berg, Schoenberg, Falla, and Britten. Several Mozart roles were recorded either on commercial disc or through reasonably faithful radio transmissions. After retirement, Danco taught at Aldeburgh and at the Accademia Chigiana at Siena.
© TiVo
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S. Danco / G. Souzay / L'Union Chorale de la Tour de Peilz / Robert Mermoud / Eric Schmid / Orchestre de la Suisse Romande play: Gabriel Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48
Suzanne Danco, Gérard Souzay, Union Chorale de la Tour de Peilz, Eric Schmid, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Concertos - Released by Classico Ivano on 2 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: In Melody Music
Suzanne Danco, Walter Gieseking, Arthur Rubinstein, Pierre Monteux
Chamber Music - Released by Plaza Mayor Company, Ltd. on 18 Jun 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op. 48 - Liederkreis, Op. 39
Classical - Released by ArnebAudio on 29 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck · orphée et eurydice
Léopold Simoneau, Suzanne Danco, Pierrette Alarie, Hans Rosbaud, Orchestre Lamoureux
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 28 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Così Fan Tutte (Dramma Giocoso in Tre Atti)
Classical - Released by The 45 Classic Music on 21 Feb 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs of Debussy (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Pierné & Debussy: Works for Voice & Piano
Suzanne Danco, Hermann Reutter
Classical - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on 6 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Suzanne Danco spielen: Maurice Ravel: Trois poèmes de Mallarmé
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Suzanne Danco
Classical - Released by Classico Ivano on 21 Nov 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Suzanne Danco spielen: Maurice Ravel: L'Heure espagnole
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Suzanne Danco, Paul Derenne, Michel Hamel, Heinz Rehfuss, André Vessieres
Opera - Released by Classico Ivano on 21 Nov 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Honegger: Le roi David - Stravinsky: Suite No. 2 de L'histoire du soldat (Mono Version)
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Suzanne Danco, Ernest Ansermet
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1900
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: L'heure espagnole (Mono Version)
Suzanne Danco, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Les nuits d'été (Mono Version)
Suzanne Danco, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Thor Martin Johnson
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lieder Recital (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni, extraits (Mono Version)
Cesare Siepi, Suzanne Danco, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Josef Krips
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Davidde penitente, K. 469 (Live)
Classical - Released by Archipel on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Davidde Penitente
Mario Rossi, Suzanne Danco, Waldemar Kmentt, Adriana Martino, Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Torino della RAI
Classical - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Falla, M.: Sombrero De 3 Picos (El) (The 3-Cornered Hat) / El Amor Brujo (Love, the Magician) (Excerpts) (Collins, Ansermet) (1950, 1952)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Suzanne Danco, Anthony Collins, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Ballets - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Suzanne Danco / Union chorale de la Tour-de-Peilz / Orchestre de la Suisse Romande play: Claude Debussy: Das Martyrium des Heiligen Sebastian (nach Gabriele d'Annunzio)
Suzanne Danco, Nancy Waugh, Marie-Lise de Montmollin, Union Chorale de la Tour de Peilz, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Opera - Released by Classico Ivano on 27 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy, C.: Martyre De St. Sebastien (Le) (Danco, Wough, De Montmollin, Ansermet) (1954)
Suzanne Danco, Nancy Wough, Marie Lise De Montmollin, Union Chorale La Tour-de-Peilz, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Classical - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vocal Recital: Danco, Suzanne - Brahms, J. / Wolf, H. / Debussy, C. (1950)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice
Léopold Simoneau, Suzanne Danco, Orchestre Lamoureux, Hans Rosbaud
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo