Opera Singer. A leading mezzo soprano of post World War II Europe, she shall be remembered for her portrayal of George Bizet's bad girl "Carmen". Born Solange Boulesteix, she studied at the Paris Conservatory and by the mid 1930s was a recitalist and radio singer. She made her operatic debut in 1942 as Charlotte in Jules Massenet's "Werther"; in 1945 she changed her name to Solange Michel and bowed at the Opera-Comique as the title lead of Ambrose Thomas' "Mignon". She soon moved to the Paris Opera where her Carmen quickly became such a favourite of audiences that she eventually performed it around 600 times there and elsewhere. Miss Michel sang other staples of the mezzo repertoire including Charlotte, Dalila from Camille Saint-Saens' "Samson et Dalila" and Marguerite in Hector Berlioz' "The Damnation of Faust". In 1963 she was the Maharani in the Opera-Comique world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Last Savage". Over the years she was to grace numerous important operatic venues including La Scala Milano, Covent Garden, London, and Teatro San Carlo, Naples, as well as Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires. A noted concert singer, her last public performance was a 1978 recital at Besancon. Miss Michel left a number of recordings including a 1950 complete "Carmen, made for Pathe, that featured Raoul Jobin as Don Jose and remains one of the few renditions to use spoken dialogue rather than recitative.
Opera Singer. A leading mezzo soprano of post World War II Europe, she shall be remembered for her portrayal of George Bizet's bad girl "Carmen". Born Solange Boulesteix, she studied at the Paris Conservatory and by the mid 1930s was a recitalist and radio singer. She made her operatic debut in 1942 as Charlotte in Jules Massenet's "Werther"; in 1945 she changed her name to Solange Michel and bowed at the Opera-Comique as the title lead of Ambrose Thomas' "Mignon". She soon moved to the Paris Opera where her Carmen quickly became such a favourite of audiences that she eventually performed it around 600 times there and elsewhere. Miss Michel sang other staples of the mezzo repertoire including Charlotte, Dalila from Camille Saint-Saens' "Samson et Dalila" and Marguerite in Hector Berlioz' "The Damnation of Faust". In 1963 she was the Maharani in the Opera-Comique world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Last Savage". Over the years she was to grace numerous important operatic venues including La Scala Milano, Covent Garden, London, and Teatro San Carlo, Naples, as well as Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires. A noted concert singer, her last public performance was a 1978 recital at Besancon. Miss Michel left a number of recordings including a 1950 complete "Carmen, made for Pathe, that featured Raoul Jobin as Don Jose and remains one of the few renditions to use spoken dialogue rather than recitative.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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