Cuénod, Hugues (-Adhémar)
Cuénod, Hugues (-Adhémar)
Cuénod, Hugues (-Adhémar) , notable Swiss
tenor; b. Corseaux-sur-Vevey, June 26, 1902. He received training at the Ribaupierre Institut in Lausanne, at the conservatories in Geneva and Basel, and in Vienna. He commenced his career as a concert singer. In 1928 he made his stage debut in Jonny spielt an/in Paris, and in 1929 he sang for the first time in the U.S. in Bitter Sweet. From 1930 to 1933 he was active in Geneva, and then in Paris from 1934 to 1937. During the 1937–39 seasons, he made an extensive concert tour of North America. From 1940 to 1946 he taught at the Geneva Cons. In 1943 he
resumed his operatic career singing in Die Fledermaus in Geneva. He subsequently sang at Milan’s La Scala (1951), the Glyndebourne Festival (from 1954), and London’s Covent Garden (1954, 1956, 1958). Cuenod pursued his career into old age, making his belated debut at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. as the Emperor in Tumndot just 3 months before his 85th birthday. In his 87th year, he appeared as Monsieur Taupe in Capricuio at the Geneva Opera in 1989. Among his finest roles were Mozart’s Basilio, the Astrologer in The Golden Cockerel, and Sellem in The Rake’s Progress. He was particularly known for his championship of early music and of the French song repertory
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire