Colette D'Arville | |
|---|---|
 Colette D'Arville, 1937 | |
| Born | Marie Marthe Cescosse 1902 (1902) |
| Died | (1944-12-16)16 December 1944 (aged 42) New York City, U.S. |
| Other names | Colette Etchery |
| Occupation | Operaticsoprano |
Colette D'Arville (1902 – 16 December 1944) was a Frenchsoprano andmusical theatre actress who had an international career inoperas, concerts, andmusicals from the 1920s through the 1940s. BornMarie Marthe Cescosse, she began her career at theThéâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens from 1922 to 1927 with the stage nameColette Etchery, she changed her stage name to Colette D'Arville for her United States debut in the 1928Broadway musicalHere's Howe. She was active with theOpéra-Comique in Paris during the 1930s, and periodically appeared in operas with American companies from 1931 to 1942 in addition to performing on American radio and in concerts and recitals. She was particularly associated with the title role in Bizet'sCarmen. While principally active in live performance on the stage and radio, she starred as Chichita in the 1935 musical filmTango Bar forParamount Pictures. She was romantically involved with composerDeems Taylor and tenorGiovanni Martinelli.
Colette D'Arville was born Marie Marthe Cescosse[1] in theFrench Basque Country to Emile and Jeanne Cescosse in 1902.[2] She began her performance career in Europe using the stage name Colette Etchery.[3] Before going to America she was committed to theThéâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens from 1922 to 1927 where she established herself as a comedienne and soprano in French operetta.[3] Initially trained as a singer inParis by Berton, she later studied singing withEstelle Liebling, the voice teacher ofBeverly Sills, inNew York City.[4][5]
D'Arville went to the United States in 1928 when the talent agents Edward S. Keller and Sam Shannon of theK-A-O agency booked her on the Americanvaudeville circuit; and it is at this time that she adopted the stage name Colette D'Arville.[3][6]
They marketed her as 18 years of age at the time, but in reality she was 26.[2][6] She made her American theatre debut as Claudette Pernier in the Roger Wolfe Kahn, Joseph Meyer, andIrving Caesar musicalHere's Howe which premiered at theShubert Theatre in Boston on 23 April 1928, for a week oftryout performances.[7] The work opened onBroadway at theBroadhurst Theatre on 1 May 1928, and was produced by Alex. A. Aarons andVinton Freedley with choreography bySammy Lee.[8] After that production closed on 20 June 1928, she performed the role of Trini in the national tour ofDave Stamper's musicalTake the Air which began in August 1928.[9]
Later that year she was put under contract as a singer onWHN radio in New York City, and was put under contract withMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer to film somemusical shorts inHollywood.[10][11]
D'Arville performed periodically at theOpéra-Comique in Paris during the 1930s.[12] In 1931, she portrayed the title role in Bizet'sCarmen at the Crescent Theatre in Trenton, New Jersey, for her first foray into opera in the United States.[13] That same year she made her New York recital debut atThe Town Hall.[2] InEgypt, she appeared in the 1932 filmSons of Aristocrats, which marks her debut inEgyptian cinema.[14] She publicized Linit Bath Soaps in 1932 radio commercials for the product.[15] That same year she gave a recital at theNew York Biltmore Hotel which featured songs byRobert Schumann andManuel de Falla.[16] She toured the United States as Carmen with the Cosmopolitan Grand Opera Company in 1932, earning rave reviews inThe Washington Post when the troupe performed at theNational Theatre in January of that year:
Colette D'Arville was a gay, bewitching, whimsical coquette in Bizet's operaCarmen last night when an appreciative audience enjoyed her wiles and witcheries and realistic portrayal of the cigarette girl of Old Seville ...Mlle. D'Arville, singing the role in French, was entirely in her element. Her voice is a dramatic soprano with coloratura range and vivid in interpretation. WithCalvé fervor she threw herself into the role. Her acting was of a high order and an attractive personality enhanced the thrilling operatic picture presented by her.[17]
In 1935, D'Arville starred oppositeCarlos Gardel in the musical filmTango Bar as Chichita which was directed byJohn Reinhardt forParamount Pictures.[18] That same year she was a member ofWOR's Light Opera Troupe which performed operettas and musical theatre material on the radio.[19] In 1936 she was one of the founding members of theAmerican Guild of Musical Artists.[20] That same year she performed in recitals withMetropolitan Opera tenorGiovanni Martinelli.[21] In 1937 D'Arville portrayed Carmen at theAcademy of Music in Philadelphia.[22] In 1939 she was a featured performer in a concert hosted by composerDeems Taylor at theWaldorf Astoria Hotel entitled "A Spring in Old Vienna".[23]
TenorGiovanni Martinelli and D'Arville were lovers during the 1930s and 1940s.[1] She was also simultaneously involved with composerDeems Taylor, who she met in 1934.[1] Taylor traveled with D'Arville to the Basque Country in 1936, and in a private letter to his ex-wife Mary Kennedy from March 1936 he wrote about his intention to propose marriage to her.[1] His opinion of her was tempered after he discovered that she was having relations regularly withSolomon R. Guggenheim.[1] In an interview famous Met sopranoRosa Ponselle said the following about the impact Martinelli's affair with Colette had on his singing and his personal life,
He wasn't singing too well, no, but that wasn't the problem I'm talking about. His life had gotten complicated around then. He was having this affair with Colette D'Arville. She had been a singer—she did light things, I think, at the Opéra-Comique. I met her and got to know her a little, but I don't think she was singing much around that time. I don't know what she was doing, really. I guess the polite way to say it is that she was an 'international consort'. She was a pretty girl, and Martinelli was head over heels about her. Everybody knew [about] it, and some of us thought it was affecting his singing. I never thought he was quite the same [vocally] after that. His range was still okay, but there was a hardness in his tone from then on.[24]
D'Arville was visiting family inParis during World War II when the German Army invaded the city in June 1940. She succeeded in making her way to unoccupied territory, and managed to return to New York City.[2] She portrayed the title role in Massenet'sLe jongleur de Notre-Dame with the Newark Civic Grand Opera in April 1942.[25]
In 1943, she sang in "camp shows" with theUnited Service Organizations for theUnited States Armed Forces atCamp Kilmer with Martinelli.[26] She also volunteered her talents for performances at theAmerican Theatre Wing'sStage Door Canteen during World War II.[27]
D'Arville died in New York City in 1944 at the age of 42.[2] She had one son, Gaston Etienne Cescosse, who was born out of wedlock.[1]
