Jenny Dufau

Jenny Dufau, from an advertisement published in 1917.

Jenny Dufau (1878–1924) was a French opera singer who found her success in Chicago.

Dufau was born on 18 July 1878 in Rothau, Alsace-Lorraine.[1] She studied in Berlin with Etelka Gerster and made her debut in 1906 at Weimar as Queen in Huguenots. Desiring to begin the Italian career in 1910 she moved to Milan where she studied with Alessandro Guagni Benvenuti. She began her career in 1910 in Italy at Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Ancona as Filina in Mignon. In 1910 and 1911 she performed in various Italian Houses and at Lirico of Bucarest and Royal of Atene. At the end of 1911 she went to the United States engaged by the Chicago Grand Opera Company. In Chicago, Dufau was a lead soprano, nicknamed the "smallest soprano". She performed in operas such as Die Walküre, The Barber of Seville, and I gioielli della Madonna. In 1914, she sang the title role in Massenet's Manon for the Boston Opera Company.[2] In 1916, Dufau shifted her focus to singing concerts nationwide, notably at the Ravinia Festival, Hamilton Park (Chicago), and Symphony Hall, Boston. The American composer Frank La Forge wrote songs for her which she performed at these concerts.

Dufau also participated in a burgeoning art form called "Cinema Concerts", in which she sang with silent films. In 1916, she performed with the film The Law Decides. Dufau returned to Europe following the end of World War I and she performed in 1918 at Royal of Madrid in Barbiere di Siviglia. Her last tracked performance was in Lucia di Lammermoor given at Teatro Toselli of Cuneo. She died on 29 August 1924 in Pau, France.[1]

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