Rgine Crespin

Vocation

Notable

Family

French opera soprano, with a debut in Mulhouse in 1950 in "Lohengrin." Through the '50s she sang the lighter dramatic roles in Paris and the provinces, excelling in Wagner. She made a successful debut at the Met in 1962, with a voice of warmth and beauty and a stage personality of great charm. Crespin grew up in Nimes, where her family moved when she was five. There they opened a shoe store. In addition to her adored mother's alcoholism, the family suffered greatly from the war. But at age 16, she persuaded her father that she could succeed at voice studies and she subsequently enrolled in the conservatory in Paris. After her 1950 debut in regional opera, she sang at the Paris Opera for the next six years. She married a German professor who coached her in the German language so she could sing Wagner. After 11 years of marriage, no children, she and Lou Bruder, divorced. In her later years after she retired from singing on the professional opera circuit she became a voice teacher. Her autobiography, "On Stage, Off Stage: A Memoir" was published in 1997. The 80-year-old Crespin died of liver cancer on July 4, 2007 in Paris. Link to Wikipedia biography