Mady Mesplé Living With Parkinson's Disease

The soprano in Lucia di Lammermoor

French soprano Mady Mesplé was most popular from 1950 to 1970 singing the title roles in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) and Lakme (Delibes) as well as Olympia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach) and the Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart). In the mid-90s the soprano developed Parkinson's Disease. She has written a book, La Voix du Corp, about her career and experience living life with the disease. It was released this fall in paperback. She works closely with Association France Parkinson offering her support whenever possible in order to help find a cure for the disease. Throughout her career she recorded exclusively for EMI France. This spring the label will issue a 4-CD box set to commemorate the singer's 80th birthday. Included in the release will be chansons and arias from her complete discography.

More information and photos after the jump.

Pamiers book signing with the Mayor

LIVING WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Parkinson's disease is the second neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. With 10,000 new cases per year, it affects 6.5 million people worldwide and approximately 150,000 individuals in France, 10% less than 40 years old. Mady Mesplé is the godmother of the Association France Parkinson. With the disease for 15 years, she wishes, through this book, to support patients who suffer physically every day and refuse the development of this debilitating disease.

In her book, she looks back on her career as a singer, working her voice and posture, and remembers the warning signs of this disease. The story is of her life with the tragedies and joys combined, as well as her fight against Parkinson's disease showing a strength and a willingness to cope. This book will be of great support for patients and their families. The message is to be happy in spite of the condition by reducing the devastation and costly chemical treatments as well. Mady Mesplé also calls upon the government to assist patients to live better lives and also provide means in order to find a cure someday with the assistance of Association France Parkinson.

BIOGRAPHY
Mady Mesplé (March 7, 1931) is a French opera singer, the leading high coloratura soprano of her generation in France, sometimes heralded as the successor to Mado Robin. She was born in Toulouse, France, and studied piano and voice at the music

In costume as Lakmé

conservatory of her native city, graduating with a gold medal. She played the piano in a local ballroom orchestra for a while, and later left for Paris for complementary voice lessons with French soprano Janine Micheau. 

Mesplé made her professional debut in Liège in January 1953, as Lakmé, a role with which she remained closely associated throughout her career, singing it an estimated 145 times. Lakmé was also her debut role at La Monnaie in Brussels in 1954. She quickly established herself in the standard lyric and coloratura roles of the French repertoire, such as Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Philline in Mignon, Leila in Les pêcheurs de perles, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Ophélie in Hamlet, Dinorah, Manon, Sophie in Werther.

She made her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1956, as Zémire in Grétry's Zémire et Azor. The same year saw her debut at the Opéra-Comique as Lakmé. Her Palais Garnier debut took place in 1958, as Constance in Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites.

Full consecration came at that opera house, in 1960, when she took over from Joan Sutherland in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Other Italian roles included Amina in La Sonnambula, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Norina in Don Pasquale, Gilda in Rigoletto. She also sang a few German roles with success, notably the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, and a much-acclaimed Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos in Aix-en-Provence in 1966.

Mesplé also enjoyed a successful career abroad, appearing at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

During the 1960s, Mesplé appeared frequently on French television and started exploring works by contemporary musicians. Charles Chaynes composed his Four Poems of Sappho for her, and in 1963 she premiered Gian Carlo Menotti's French version of his opera The Last Savage. She was also the first to sing the French version of Hans Werner Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers in 1965, and Pierre Boulez chose Mesplé for his performances of Arnold Schoenberg's Jacob's Ladder.

During the 1970s she added operettas to her repertoire, especially by Jacques Offenbach, such as La Vie Parisienne, Orphée aux enfers, and La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, opposite Régine Crespin.

Mady Mesplé, Montserrat Caballé & Jessye Norman at Grand Prix du Disque 1975

Mesplé retired from the stage in 1985 and turned to teaching at L'École Normale de Musique in Paris and at the Music Conservatory of Lyon. She also gave master classes and acted as judge in many voice competitions around the world.

Mesplé left an impressive discography, encompassing recitals of opera, operetta, and melodies, complete opera and operetta recordings, some of rarely performed works such as Auber's Fra DiavoloManon Lescaut, Charles Lecocq's La fille de Madame Angot, Robert Planquette's Les cloches de Corneville, Louis Ganne's Les saltimbanques, André Messager's Véronique, Reynaldo Hahn's Ciboulette and more. However, it is her recording of Lakmé, opposite Charles Burles and Roger Soyer, under Alain Lombard, that will forever be remembered.

The archetype of the light French coloratura soprano, Mady Mesplé was noted for her technical security, her musical refinement, and her amazing upper register extending easily to high A-flat, as well as her charming stage presence.