Biography
Hugues Cuenod ranks among Switzerland’s most distinguished tenor vocalists. More than fifty years after his first appearance on stage in the 1928 Paris production of Jonny Spielt Auf at the Graumont Theater, he earned the distinction of being the oldest singer to debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, taking the role in Puccini’s Turandot.
He entered the world in Vevey, a modest lakeside community on Lake Geneva, and pursued vocal training at the Ribaupierre Institute in Lausanne as well as at the conservatories of Geneva, Basel, and Vienna.
Twelve months after that initial stage appearance, Cuenod crossed the Atlantic to sing in the American premiere of the opera Bitter Sweet. During the 1930s he concentrated on recital work, appearing in Geneva, Paris, and across North America while collaborating with the French conductor, composer, and pedagogue Nadia Boulanger. Between 1940 and 1946 he held a teaching post at the Geneva Conservatory of Music.
He resumed operatic engagements in 1943 with a Geneva staging of Die Fledermaus and went on to perform at La Scala in Milan, the Glyndebourne Festival, and Covent Garden in London. His contribution to the 1950 world premiere of Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress” stands as a landmark event in twentieth-century music.
Cuenod’s legacy rests chiefly on his readings of Bach and Elizabethan song, delivered in a light, unforced timbre.
He entered the world in Vevey, a modest lakeside community on Lake Geneva, and pursued vocal training at the Ribaupierre Institute in Lausanne as well as at the conservatories of Geneva, Basel, and Vienna.
Twelve months after that initial stage appearance, Cuenod crossed the Atlantic to sing in the American premiere of the opera Bitter Sweet. During the 1930s he concentrated on recital work, appearing in Geneva, Paris, and across North America while collaborating with the French conductor, composer, and pedagogue Nadia Boulanger. Between 1940 and 1946 he held a teaching post at the Geneva Conservatory of Music.
He resumed operatic engagements in 1943 with a Geneva staging of Die Fledermaus and went on to perform at La Scala in Milan, the Glyndebourne Festival, and Covent Garden in London. His contribution to the 1950 world premiere of Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress” stands as a landmark event in twentieth-century music.
Cuenod’s legacy rests chiefly on his readings of Bach and Elizabethan song, delivered in a light, unforced timbre.
Albums
