Opera Singer. A lyric tenor with a remarkably long-lasting voice, he had an operatic career of well over 60 years. Raised in Switzerland, he learned French as his first language, but was to become equally conversant in English, German, and Italian; after begining his vocal studies in Lausanne, he received further training in Geneva, Basel, and Vienna before making his 1928 Paris operatic bow in Ernst Krenek's "Jonny Spielt Auf". The next year he was a Green Carnation in Noel Coward's "Bitter Sweet" in London, then followed the production to Broadway. Through the 1930s he was an active recitalist in Vienna, Paris, Geneva, and, later, America, while working with Nadia Boulanger in Paris on her now-famous Monteverdi recordings. A professor at the Geneva Conservatory during World War II, he sang in Strauss' "Die Fledermaus" in 1943 and continued performing locally. Creating the role of Sellem in Igor Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress" at Venice in 1951, he made his 1954 Glyndebourne Festival bow with it. Cuenod was to use the role of The Astrologer in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Golden Cockeral" for two important debut appearances, at La Scala Milano in 1951 and at Covent Garden, London, in 1954. Though he only sang with the Royal Opera for a few seasons in the 1950s, he was a regular at Glyndebourne thru 1987, appearing roughly 500 times, his noted characterizations including The Astrologer, Don Basilio in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", and Cock in Leos Janacek's "The Cunning Little Vixen". Cuenod holds the record of being the oldest singer to debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera, giving the first of his 14 performances there on March 3, 1987, as the Emperor Altoum in Puccini's "Turandot"; his final operatic appearance was in 1992 as M. Triquet in Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" at Mezieres, France. He was designated Chevalier des Artes et des Lettres by France in 1976 and was last seen in public at his 100th birthday party where he was given the World of Song Award by the Lotte Lehmann Foundation. At his death much of his widely varied recorded legacy remained in print.
Opera Singer. A lyric tenor with a remarkably long-lasting voice, he had an operatic career of well over 60 years. Raised in Switzerland, he learned French as his first language, but was to become equally conversant in English, German, and Italian; after begining his vocal studies in Lausanne, he received further training in Geneva, Basel, and Vienna before making his 1928 Paris operatic bow in Ernst Krenek's "Jonny Spielt Auf". The next year he was a Green Carnation in Noel Coward's "Bitter Sweet" in London, then followed the production to Broadway. Through the 1930s he was an active recitalist in Vienna, Paris, Geneva, and, later, America, while working with Nadia Boulanger in Paris on her now-famous Monteverdi recordings. A professor at the Geneva Conservatory during World War II, he sang in Strauss' "Die Fledermaus" in 1943 and continued performing locally. Creating the role of Sellem in Igor Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress" at Venice in 1951, he made his 1954 Glyndebourne Festival bow with it. Cuenod was to use the role of The Astrologer in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Golden Cockeral" for two important debut appearances, at La Scala Milano in 1951 and at Covent Garden, London, in 1954. Though he only sang with the Royal Opera for a few seasons in the 1950s, he was a regular at Glyndebourne thru 1987, appearing roughly 500 times, his noted characterizations including The Astrologer, Don Basilio in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", and Cock in Leos Janacek's "The Cunning Little Vixen". Cuenod holds the record of being the oldest singer to debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera, giving the first of his 14 performances there on March 3, 1987, as the Emperor Altoum in Puccini's "Turandot"; his final operatic appearance was in 1992 as M. Triquet in Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" at Mezieres, France. He was designated Chevalier des Artes et des Lettres by France in 1976 and was last seen in public at his 100th birthday party where he was given the World of Song Award by the Lotte Lehmann Foundation. At his death much of his widely varied recorded legacy remained in print.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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