Marie-Antoinette Willemsen (, 21 June 1867 – 11 January 1942) was a Belgian opera singer. After her marriage to the composer Xavier Leroux, she was known as Madame Héglon-Leroux.

Biography Born in Brussels, Héglon studied with Marie Sax and Barthot, Tequi and Louis-Henri Obin and continued her studies with Rosine Laborde. Richard T. Soper, Belgian Opera Houses and Singers (Reprint Company 1999), p.265-266. She made her debut at the Paris Opera in November 1890, as Maddalena in Rigoletto.

She sang at La Monnaie in 1894-1895 and later in 1901-1902. She performed as a guest artist in Ghent in 1898-1899.

Héglon frequently appeared at the Paris Opera from 1897 to 1907. On 7 April 1898, at the Paris Opera, she sang at the world premiere of Tre pezzi sacriat the time composed of three parts by Verdi, with her and Marie Delna as mezzo-sopranos and Aino Ackté and Louise Grandjean as sopranos, as part of the concerts of the Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire, conducted by Paul Taffanel. She sang the role of Omphale in the première of Leroux's Astarté in 1901. with Louise Grandjean, Albert Alvarez and Francisque Delmas..

Héglon spent a large part of her career at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. On 4 October 1898 she signed a contract for three performances of Amneris in Aida, in Italian and four for the premiere of the title role of Isidore de Lara's Messaline. Héglon received considerable support from Camille Saint-Saëns and sang in his Samson and Delilah in 1904.

She appeared in 1898 in the role of Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII at Covent Garden where she also performed on 13 July 1899 in the title role of Messaline with Albert Alvarez in the role of Helion and Maurice Renaud in that of Harès. She also sang in the main opera houses of Belgium.. At the Opéra-Comique, she created the role of La Vougne in Alexandre Georges' comic opera Miarka,Miarka on BnF on 7 November 1905 and also sang in this opera's premiere in London.

After her retirement from the stage, she taught singing. Among her most notable students was the French soprano Ninon Vallin.

On 8 April 1917 her husband, Xavier Leroux, conducted his work Les cadeaux de Noël. The participating artists were all students of Héglon. On 6 April 1918 another work by her husband was performed, 1814. For this performance, she came out of retirement to sing the role of The Mother.

She made four recordings for the Gramophone Company in 1904. Her voice can be heard on the anthology album, The Record of Singing Volume I (1899-1919).

Repertoire Cassandre – Les Troyens Uta – Sigurd Edwige – William Tell Amneris – Aida Dalila – Samson and Delilah Fricka – Die Walküre Yamina – La Montagne Noire by Augusta Holmès La Reine – Hamlet Anne – Henri VIII Fides – Le Prophète

Premieres At the Opéra de Paris: 1893: Schwertleite in Die Walküre, 12 May 1894: Myrtale in Thais, 16 March 1894: Ourvaci in Djelma, 25 May 1894: Emilia in Otello, 10 October 1895: Dara in La Montagne noire, 8 February. 1898: Pyrrha in La Burgonde, 23 December 1901: Omphale in Leroux's Astarté, 15 February 1901: Title role of Frédégonde 1901: Livie in Les barbares, 23 October 1902: Erda in Siegfried, 3 January.. Liba in La Cloche du RhinLa Cloche du rhin on BnF Title role of Handel's Theodora

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External links

Publicité pour les biscuits Lefèvre-Utile, base Joconde, French Ministry of Culture. Air de Scozzone d'Ascanio de Saint-Saëns, 1904 (YouTube)