Thérèse Laporte

Laporte, Thérèse

Thérèse Laporte. Soprano, b Montreal 11 Jun 1932. After taking violin lessons, she studied voice with Albert Cornellier and 1949-50 with Martial Singher at the CMM. For the Variétés lyriques, she sang leading roles in Posford and Grün's Balalaika in 1950, Francis Lopez' La Belle de Cadix in 1951, and Vincent Scotto's Violettes impériales in 1952. Also in 1952 she sang in Menotti's The Telephone at the Minute Opera.

On a Quebec government grant Laporte studied 1952-5 in Paris with Yvonne Brothier (voice) and Fanély Revoil (operetta). She and the baritone Michel Brothier formed a duo and gave recitals in 1954 at the Maison canadienne and the École normale de musique.

In 1955 Laporte sang in Offenbach's La Vie parisienne for the Variétés lyriques in Montreal and in Pierre Pétel's Canadian operetta Un Amour de Cadeau on CBC TV. She was engaged by the Paris Théâtre de la Gaîté-Lyrique to sing the leading soprano role opposite Luis Mariano in 70 performances of the operetta Chevalier du ciel. Following her success, that theatre engaged her to sing Calico, with the Compagnons de la chanson, in the premiere 13 Dec 1956 of Minnie Moustache, an operetta that ran for six months and excerpts from which were recorded by Columbia (LP 25cm, FS-1067). Épinal's La Liberté de l'est (24 Jan 1956) wrote: 'Thérèse Laporte is graceful and overwhelmingly spontaneous and natural; in turn naive and disarmingly subtle, she blends the evocative gesture with a delightful soprano voice in a completely easy manner'. Laporte sang Hermia in Offenbach's Barbe-bleue in 1959 for the Montreal Festivals, Mi in Lehár's Le Pays du sourire (Land of Smiles) in 1965 for the Théâtre lyrique de Nouvelle-France, and Oreste in Offenbach's La Belle Hélène in 1966 at the PDA. She subsequently moved to Quebec City and turned to the chanson.