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Dame Maggie TeyteDBE (bornMargaret Tate; 17 April 1888 – 26 May 1976) was an English operaticsoprano and interpreter of French art song.
Margaret Tate was born inWolverhampton, England, one of ten children of Jacob James Tate, a successful wine and spirit merchant and proprietor of public houses and later lodgings.Teyte attended St. Joseph's Convent School,Snow Hill, Wolverhampton. Her parents were keen amateur musicians and opera enthusiasts. She was the sister of composerJames W. Tate. Her family moved to London in 1898, where Teyte studied at theRoyal School of Music.
Her father died in 1903 and she went to Paris the following year to become a pupil of the celebrated tenorJean de Reszke. She made her first public appearance in Paris in 1906 when she sang Cherubino inThe Marriage of Figaro and Zerlina inDon Giovanni, both conducted byReynaldo Hahn. Her professional debut took place at theOpera House inMonte Carlo on 1 February 1907, where she performed Tyrcis inMyriame et Daphné[1] (André Bloch's arrangement ofJacques Offenbach'sDaphnis et Chloé), withPaderewski. The following week, again at the Opera House in Monte Carlo, she sang Zerlina.
Finding that her surname was generally mispronounced in France, she changed it from Tate to Teyte before joining theOpéra-Comique in Paris. After a few small parts, she was cast as Mélisande inPelléas et Mélisande byDebussy, replacing the originator of the role,Mary Garden. To prepare forPelléas et Mélisande, she studied with Debussy himself, and she is the only singer ever to be accompanied by Debussy on the piano with an orchestra in public (seeBeau Soir). In 1910, SirThomas Beecham cast Teyte as Cherubino and Mélisande and also as Blonde inDie Entführung aus dem Serail for his London season. Despite her early singing successes, Teyte did not easily establish herself in the main opera houses. Instead, she moved to America and performed with theChicago Grand Opera Company from 1911 to 1914 and theBoston Opera Company from 1914 to 1917, singing inPhiladelphia and elsewhere, but not in New York, though she created the title role inHenry Kimball Hadley's opera,Bianca, atManhattan's Park Theater in 1918. Returning to Britain in 1919, she created the rôle of Lady Mary Carlisle inAndré Messager's operetta,Monsieur Beaucaire, at thePrince's Theatre. She married for a second time in 1921, to Canadian millionaire Walter Sherwin Cottingham, and went into semi-retirement until 1930, when she performed as Mélisande and played the title role inPuccini'sMadama Butterfly.
After difficulty in reviving her career, she ended up performingmusic hall and variety (24 performances a week) at the Victoria Palace in London. Finally, in 1936, her recordings of Debussy songs accompanied byAlfred Cortot attracted attention, and recordings remained an important factor in her renewed fame, as she gained a reputation in England and the United States as the leading French art song interpreter of her time. She sang at theRoyal Opera House in 1936–37 inHansel and Gretel, asEurydice inGluck'sOrfeo ed Euridice and as Butterfly inMadama Butterfly. In 1938–39, she broadcast performances ofMassenet'sManon in English, withHeddle Nash as des Grieux, in addition to an ill-advised Eva inWagner'sDie Meistersinger. She also appeared in operetta and musical comedy between the wars.
She made her first New York appearances in 1948, including a Town Hall recital followed by performances of Pelléas at theNew York City Center Opera. She continued to record and perform in opera until 1951, making her final appearance in the part of Belinda (toKirsten Flagstad's Dido) inPurcell'sDido and Aeneas at thefirst Mermaid Theatre in London.[2] Her final concert appearance was at theRoyal Festival Hall on 22 April 1956, aged 68. She spent her last years teaching. She died in London in 1976, aged 88.
TheMusicians' Benevolent Fund sponsors a prize in her honour. The Maggie Teyte Prize of £2,000, which is coupled with theMiriam Licette Scholarship of £3,000, is open to women singers under the age of 30. The winner is offered a recital in association with the Friends of Covent Garden for theRoyal Opera House.
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