Renée Chemet
Renée Chemet | |
|---|---|
Renée Chemet standing at a microphone, from the George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress. | |
| Born | Renée Henriette Joséphine Chemet 9 January 1887 |
| Died | 2 January 1977 (aged 89) |
| Nationality | French |
| Other names | Renée Chemet-Decreus (after marriage) |
| Alma mater | Conservatoire de Paris |
| Occupation | violinist |
| Spouse | Camille Decreus |
Renée Chemet (9 January 1887 – 2 January 1977) was a French violinist.
Early life
Renée Henriette Joséphine Chemet was born in Boulogne-sur-Seine. She studied with Henri Berthelier at the Conservatoire de Paris, graduating in 1902.[1]
Career
Chemet toured the world as a violinist for decades, playing a violin made by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini. In 1904, still a teenager, she was a soloist at the Proms concerts in London, under conductor Henry Wood.[1] In 1907, she toured North America as a violinist with her husband, pianist Camille Decreus, in the company of Emma Calvé.[2][3] "Madame Chemet is a violinist of great talent", explained a reviewer who heard her in Hamburg in 1911, "with great skill, splendid technique, and big (rather manly) tone. Her style of playing is eminently French; she sometimes overdoes it by forcing sentiment and cantilène."[4]
During World War I, when travel was difficult, she gave benefit concerts and performed for the troops in France, and worked as a nurse's aide; she was awarded the Legion of Honour for her service.[5]
After the war, Chemet was a soloist in Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bradford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Glasgow in 1920.[6] In the latter half of 1920, Chemet gave a number of joint recitals with the Russian tenor Vladimir Rosing.[7] In New York, she played at Carnegie Hall in 1921, at Aeolian Hall in 1923,[8] Town Hall in 1927,[9] and at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1925 and 1928.[10][11] Throughout the 1920s, she made many recordings,[12][13] and appeared regularly on radio. "Radio paves the way," she told a New York Times interviewer in 1930. "It popularizes tunes, the great symphony orchestras, the talented singers and instrumental soloists that would be ignored without this medium."[14] She played Maud Powell's violin[15] on the radio in New York in 1925.[16][17]
Chemet traveled through Hawaii to Japan in 1932, to perform with pianist Anca Seidlova and koto player Michio Miyagi.[18][19][20] Later that year, she performed with the BBC Orchestra.[21]
Personal life
Chemet married fellow French musician Camille Decreus in 1906.[22] He died in 1939. She died in 1977, at age 89, in Paris.
References
- ^ a b E. Windust, "Renee Chemet-Decreus" The Strad (July 1909): 130-131.
- ^ "The Calve Concert Sale" Town Talk (30 November 1907): 23.
- ^ "Program for Calve Concert" The Leavenworth Times (2 November 1907): 8. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Music in Hamburg" The Strad (December 1911): 295.
- ^ "Celebrated Violinist is in America" Carry On (February 1926): 6.
- ^ "Music in the Provinces" The Musical Times (1 March 1920): 196-208.
- ^ "Mme. Chemet's Violin Playing." London Times, 16 Jul 1920.
- ^ Richard Aldrich, "Renee Chemet's Recital" New York Times (23 November 1923): 21.
- ^ "Violin Recital by Chemet" New York Times (6 December 1927): 25.
- ^ "Renee Chemet in Concert" New York Times (14 December 1925): 19.
- ^ "Renee Chemet in Opera Concert" New York Times (24 December 1928): 18.
- ^ Renée Chemet, Discography of American Historical Recordings.
- ^ "Three Celebrated Pianists and Famous Violinist Added to Roster of Chickering Artists' Department" Music Trades (29 December 1923): 16.
- ^ "An Artist Reveals a Love for Radio" New York Times (9 March, 19300: 155.
- ^ "Noted Baritone and Violinist to Broadcast on Thursday" New York Times (8 February 1925): XX15.
- ^ Peter Tschmuck, Creativity and Innovation in the Music Industry (Springer Science and Business Media 2006): 55. ISBN 9781402042744
- ^ "The Microphone will Present" New York Times (20 April 1930): 116.
- ^ "Madame Chemet is Planning Concert Here This Summer" Honolulu Star-Bulletin (29 March 1932): 38. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Miyagi Michio, International Shakuhachi Society.
- ^ Ena Kajino, "A Lost Opportunity for Tradition: The Violin in Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Traditional Music" Nineteenth-Century Music Review 10(2)(December 2013): 293-321.
- ^ G. A. H., "An Orchestra Concert" The Guardian (7 November 1932): 10. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Music in Paris" Musical Courier (5 June 1907): 11.
External links
- A 1909 portrait of Chemet with her violin, in the J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Libraries.
- A Renée Chemet recital program (1929), from an appearance at McMurry College in Abilene, Texas, in The Portal to Texas History.
- Emily Liz, "Great female violinists of the past" Violinist.com (27 December 2010). A blog post including Chemet.