Rosemarie Landry

Landry, Rosemarie

Rosemarie (Yvonne) Landry. Soprano, b Timmins, Ont, of Acadian parents, 25 Apr 1946; B MUS piano and singing (Montreal) 1969, M MUS singing (Laval) 1971, Artist Diploma opera (Toronto) 1976, honorary D MUS (Moncton) 1985, honorary D LITT (York) 1991. She studied with Rolande Ouimet 1966-8 at the Wilfrid Pelletier School in Montreal; with Bernard Diamant 1966-71 in Montreal and 1973-9 in Toronto; with Jean-Paul Jeannotte 1969-71 at Laval U; with Pierre Bernac 1971-2, 1975-6, and 1979 in Paris; and with Gérard Souzay and Dalton Baldwin 1975 and 1976 at the JMC Orford Art Centre and in Europe. She won the voice category of the CBC Talent Festival in 1976.

In 1978 Landry sang Mrs Gobineau in the CBC telecast of COMUS Music Theatre's production of Menotti's The Medium and Mélisande in Stuart Hamilton's Opera in Concert presentation of Pelléas et Mélisande. Also in 1978 she sang in the Schubertiads at the Guelph Spring Festival, toured the Maritimes with the pianist Jane Coop, and appeared with the pianist Dalton Baldwin at the International Art Song Festival in Princeton, NJ, an engagement she repeated in 1982. Baldwin subsequently accompanied her in recitals in Canada and on many of her tours. Landry has performed at festivals in Canada and abroad, including Music at Sharon, Quinte Summer Music, the Elora Festival, the New York Festival of Song, the Colorado Music Festival, and the Art Song Festival (Piteo, Sweden). In 1979 she was the Countess in the COC's touring production of The Marriage of Figaro and sang in the first French performances (Lyons and Paris) of Berio's Passagio.

After her 1982 debut at Wigmore Hall in London, critic Philip Rodden described Landry as 'an intelligent and audacious performer,' commending her 'exuberant singing and finely spun tones in Debussy's "Green",' as well as 'her agility and portamento in Gounod's "Serenade"... and great poise in Leguerney's "Au sommeil"' (Music and Musicians, May 1982). Also in 1982, she performed and recorded the title role in Massenet's Grisélidis at the Wexford Opera Festival in Ireland, a role she repeated in 1983 in one of her many appearances with Opera in Concert.

Landry has sung with the major Canadian orchestras, choirs, and opera companies, and also with the Orchestre de Radio-France, the Singapore SO, and the Orchestra Musicum Collegium in Geneva, among others, and with such chamber music ensembles as the Orford and Allegri string quartets and the Chamber Players of Toronto. She has appeared in concert and on tour with such artists as André Laplante and Maureen Forrester, has frequently been broadcast on CBC radio and TV, and gave a series of recitals at Expo 90 in Osaka, Japan.

Landry is particularly renowned as a singer of French art song and of contemporary music from various countries. In 1984, she premiered the Swiss composer and conductor Michel Tabachnik's L'Arch in Geneva at a concert honouring Ernest Ansermet, then performed the same work with the the Hilversum Philharmonic, the Basel Radio Orchestra, and the Stuttgart Orchestra. In 1986 she created the role of Anne Hutchinson in Istvan Anhalt's opera Winthrop, and she has also performed in the premieres of Ian McDougall'sOjistoh (1986), John Beckwith'sSynthetic Trios (1987), and R. Murray Schafer'sString Quartet No. 4 (1990).

Landry has taught masterclasses at Memorial U, Princeton U, University of Moncton, and in other Canadian and US institutions. In 1979 she began teaching at the University of Toronto. In 1990 she was made a Member of the Order of Canada.