![Atelier Nadar - Galli-Marié in Bizet's Carmen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Atelier_Nadar_-_Galli-Mari%C3%A9_in_Bizet%27s_Carmen.jpg)
Célestine Galli-Marié (15 March 1837 – 22 September 1905) was a French
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
who is most famous for creating the title role in the opera ''
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
''.
[Wright, L. A. "Galli-Marié". In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London & New York, 1992.]
Career
She was born Marie-Célestine Laurence Marié de l'Isle in Paris. She was taught singing by her father,
Mécène Marié de l'Isle
Mécène Marié de l'Isle (22 May 1811 – 14 August 1879) was a French musician and opera singer, who used the stage name Marié.
Early training and career
Born Claude-Marie-Mécène Marié de l'Isle in Château-Chinon, he went to Paris to st ...
, who also had a successful opera career. Her début came in 1859 in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
, and she sang in Italian in Lisbon.
[Curtiss, M. ''Bizet and his World.'' New York: Vienna House, 1974.] At the age of fifteen she had married a sculptor named Galli (who died in 1861)
and thus took her stage name, Galli-Marié.
Émile Perrin
Émile-César-Victor Perrin was a French painter, mainly known as a theatre director and impresario, born in Rouen on 9 January 1814, died 8 October 1885.Dean W. ''Bizet.'' London, JM Dent & Sons, 1978. His son-in-law was Camille du Locle.
Bio ...
, the director of the
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...
, heard her performing
Balfe's ''
The Bohemian Girl
''The Bohemian Girl'' is an Irish Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, ''La Gitanilla''.
The best-known aria from the piece is "I Dreamt I Dwel ...
'' at
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
and brought her to Paris. She sang at the Opéra-Comique until 1885, premiering in
Pergolesi Pergolesi is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, (1710–1736), Italian composer, violinist, and organist
* Michael Angelo Pergolesi, 18th-century Italian decorative artist
{{Surname
Italian-langu ...
's ''
La serva padrona
''La serva padrona'', or ''The Maid Turned Mistress'', is a 1733 intermezzo by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) to a libretto by Gennaro Federico, after the play by Jacopo Angello Nelli. It is some 40 minutes long, in two parts without o ...
''. Her most famous roles were in
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
's ''
Mignon
''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. The ...
'' (1866) and
Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...
's ''
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
'' (1875). It was said that at the 33rd performance of ''Carmen'' on 2 June 1875, Galli-Marié had a premonition of Bizet's death while singing the cards scene in Act III, and fainted when she left the stage; the composer in fact died that night and the next performance was cancelled due to her indisposition. Undertaking much touring, she performed Carmen in Brussels (16 January 1876), Naples (the Italian premiere), Genoa, Barcelona, Lyon, Liege and Dieppe before returning in the Opéra-Comique revival of the original production on 22 October 1883.
In London she appeared at
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...
in a touring production in 1886, and returned to the Opéra-Comique in 1890 to sing in a fundraising performance to erect a monument to Bizet (this was her final performance).
She also created the roles of Lazarille in ''
Don César de Bazan
''Don César de Bazan'' is an opéra comique in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery, Philippe-François Pinel "Dumanoir" and Jules Chantepie, based on the play by d'Ennery and Dumanoir, which was first perform ...
'', Vendredi in ''
Robinson Crusoé
''Robinson Crusoé '' is an opéra comique with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Eugène Cormon and Hector-Jonathan Crémieux. It premiered in Paris on 23 November 1867.
The writers took the theme from the 1719 novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' b ...
'', the title part in ''
Fantasio'', as well as roles in ''Lara'', ''Le Capitaine Henriot'', ''Fior d'Aliza'', ''La Petite Fadette'', and ''Piccolino''. She also sang Taven in ''
Mireille
Mireille () is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name ''Mirèio'' (or ''Mirèlha'' in the classical norm of Occitan, ). It could be related to the Occitan verb ''mirar'' "to look, to admire" or to the given names ''Miriam'' " ...
'' and Rose Friquet in ''
Les dragons de Villars
''Les dragons de Villars'' (''The Dragoons of Villars'') is an opéra-comique in three acts by Aimé Maillart to a libretto by Lockroy and Eugène Cormon. The story of the opera was said to have been borrowed from ''La Petite Fadette'' by George ...
''.
[Soubies, A. & Malherbe, C. ''Histoire de l'Opéra comique – La seconde salle Favart 1840–1887.'' Paris: Flammarion, 1893.][Martin J. ''Nos artistes des theatres et concerts.'' Paul Ollendorff, Paris, 1895.] Sometime in the late 1860s and early 1870s she and the composer
Émile Paladilhe
Émile Paladilhe (3 June 1844 – 6 January 1926) was a French composer of the late romantic period.
Biography
Émile Paladilhe was born in Montpellier. He was a musical child prodigy, and moved from his home in the south of France to Paris to ...
became lovers. Curtiss notes that she kept pet
marmoset
The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are 22 New World monkey species of the genera ''Callithrix'', ''Cebuella'', ''Callibella'', and ''Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term "marmoset" is ...
s, and sometimes took them to rehearsal.
She died in
Vence
Vence (; oc, Vença) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes.
Ecclesiastical history
The first known Bishop of Vence is Severu ...
, near
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
.
Her voice was described as being of a good timbre, with clear diction and phrasing. A high mezzo-soprano voice was at one time referred to as "Galli-Marié". Galli-Marié parts are now sometimes sung by
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
s.
Family
Her sisters
Irma and were also professional singers. Irma created roles in ''L'amour chanteur'' in 1864 and in ''
Les bergers
''Les bergers'' is a three-act opéra comique of 1865 with music by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux, Hector Crémieux and Philippe Gille.Andrew Lamb (writer), Lamb A., Jacques Offenbach (List of stage works ...
'' in 1865; she toured the US before returning to the Paris Opéra-Comique. Paola was prominent in operetta and created roles for
Charles Lecocq
Alexandre Charles Lecocq (3 June 183224 October 1918) was a French composer, known for his opérettes and opéra comique, opéras comiques. He became the most prominent successor to Jacques Offenbach in this sphere, and enjoyed considerable succ ...
, appearing a great deal in the US. Galli-Marié and Irma sang together in ''Madeleine'' at the
Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens in 1869.
[Gänzl, K. ''The Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre.'' Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.]
References
Further reading
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galli-Marie, Celestine
19th-century French women opera singers
1837 births
1905 deaths
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Singers from Paris
French operatic mezzo-sopranos