Above: soprano Irène Joachim
I have begun re-reading Prince of Virtuosos, Charles Timbrell's biography of the pianist Walter Morse Rummel. It was in Peter Kurth's biography of Isadora Duncan that I first read about Mr. Rummel: he had been Isadora's music director (and lover) for about three years, starting in 1918. When the pianist took up with one of the "Isadorables", Anna Duncan, he and Isadora parted company.
It wasn't until my third or fourth reading of Mr. Kurth's book that Mr. Rummel's middle name - Morse - captured my attention. Morse was my mother's maiden name, and she - like the great pianist - could trace her line back to Samuel F B Morse, inventor of the telegraph. This information made me feel - strangely enough - a mystical connection with Isadora, whose life and danceworks fascinate me.
Now, taking up the Rummel biography again, I've stumbled upon the briefest mention of the pianist's niece - thru his first marriage to pianist Thérèse Chaigneau - soprano and film actress Irène Joachim. Another bond, however obscure, that the Prince of Virtuosos gives me...this time, within the realm of opera.
Irène Joachim was born in 1913 and, after studying violin and piano, began voice lessons at age 20. She entered (and won) a competition to study at the Conservatoire de Paris; near the end of her time there, Mlle. Joachim recorded some Brahms and Mozart songs.
In 1939, she made her stage debut at the Opéra Comique, where she sang such roles as Marguerite in FAUST, Micaela, and Contessa Almaviva as well as premiering several contemporary operas. In 1940 she took on what was to be her signature role: Debussy's Mélisande. In 1941, Mlle. Joachim became the first singer to record the complete opera, opposite tenor Jacques Jansen.
Irène Joachim & Jacques Jansen - Pelléas et Mélisande ~ Mes longs cheveux
Her fame increased following the release of this marvelous recording, and she was invited to sing in Berlin for the Nazis in 1942. She declined.
Mlle. Joachim continued her singing career - her 1936 recording of songs by Carl Maria von Weber won the Grand Prix du Disque - and from 1936 to 1959 she appeared in several feature films. Following her retirement, she taught privately, and later became a professor of voice at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1963. She passed away in 2001.
Among her many recordings, Irène Joachim's exquisite rendering of Schumann's Mondnacht stands out:
Irène Joachim - Schumann ~ Mondnacht