Opera Scotland

Maggie Teyte Suggest updates

Dame Maggie Teyte (originally Tate).

Born: Wolverhampton, 17 April 1888.

Died:  London, 26 May 1976.

English soprano.

Maggie Teyte was one of the most notable British singers in the early twentieth century, especially popular in France. The spelling of her name was, it seems, altered to assist pronunciation by French speakers. She studied Mélisande with Debussy and it became her signature role.

She studied in London, at the Royal College of Music, then in Paris with Jean de Reszke. Her debut in concert was in 1907, with Paderewski in Monte Carlo. The operatic debut was also there later the same year (Tyrcis in Offenbach's Myriame et Daphné).

1907-11 she was based at the Paris Opéra-Comique. She created Glycère in Circé (Hillemacher) and she sang Mélisande for the first time in 1908. In the USA she sang in Chicago 1911-14 and Boston 1915-17. In 1948 she sang Mélisande in New York.

Her regular appearances at Covent Garden were in 1910, 1914, 1922-3, 1930, 1936-8. She also worked with BNOC as Mélisande (1923). Other parts for which she was praised included Butterfly, Cherubino and Hänsel.

In 1951 she appeared as Belinda in a famous staging of Dido and Aeneas with Kirsten Flagstad at the Mermaid.