LISTENING TO TCHAIKOVSKY: Béla Hartmann uses his knowledge of Eastern Europe to argue against the banning of all Russian culture following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
French-Canadian mezzo Huguette Tourangeau was born in Montreal on 12 August 1940. She studied at the Montreal Marguerite-Bourgeoys College and the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.
After appearing as a soloist in the Vespro della Beata Vergine by Monteverdi in 1962, she sang Mercédès in Carmen for Zubin Mehta in 1964, both in Montreal. In the same year she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and sang Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro for Richard Bonynge at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Her career began to take off in 1965-66, touring as Carmen with the Metropolitan National Company and beginning to work with Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge for live performances and recordings. In 1967 and 1968 she sang Carmen for New York City Opera, and was Nicklausse in The Tales of Hoffmann at New York Metropolitan Opera in 1973.
She was the first recipient of the Canadian Music Council Artist of the Year in 1977, and in 1997 she became a Member of the Order of Canada.
Huguette Tourangeau died on 21 April 2018, aged seventy-seven.