Caroline Duprez (10 April 1832 - 17 April 1875) was a French soprano. She was the daughter and pupil of the

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

Gilbert Duprez. À member of the troupe of the Opéra-Comique from 1852 to 1857, she premiered numerous roles in the opéras-comiques composed at that time by Auber,

Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le d ...

, Massé and Halévy.Caroline Duprez's roles
on Gallica

Life

Born in Florence, Duprez was the daughter the famous French tenor Gilbert Duprez and Alexandrine Duperron. She studied with her father and began performing in Reims in 1850. She then joined the Comédie Italienne in Paris, sang in London in 1851 and then in Brussels in 1851-1852. She returned to Paris in 1852 to premiere the main role of her father's work, ''Joanita'',(a revision of his earlier ''L'abime de la maladetta''), at the Théâtre-Lyrique For 5 years she was with the Opéra-Comique where she premiered the roles of Angela in

Daniel-François-Esprit Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...

's ''Marco Sparda'' (1852), Catherine in Meyerbeer's '' L'Étoile du nord'' (1854), Jenny Bell in the eponymous work by Auber (1855), Simone in Massé's ''Les Saisons'' (1855) and Halèvy's ''

Valentine d'Aubigny ''Valentine d'Aubigny'' is an opéra comique in three acts composed by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. It premiered in Paris on 26 April 1856 at the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique (2° Salle Favart). The comic s ...

'' (1856). Her voice, pure and agile, was particularly admired in its high register. She sang the roles of light soprano at the Paris Opera from 1860 to 1864. After touring the provinces for two years, she created her last role at the Opéra-Comique in 1866 in Massé's ''Fior d'Aliza''. Fragile in health and suffering from tuberculosis, she withdrew from the stage shortly afterwards and spent her last four years in Pau, alongside her husband, the violinist Amédée Van den Heuvel. She died there in 1875.

Sources

* Andrew Gann, "Caroline Duprez", ''Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle'' under the direction of Joël-Marie Fauquet,

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...

, Paris, 2003, 1406 p.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duprez, Caroline 1832 births 1875 deaths Musicians from Florence French operatic sopranos 19th-century French women opera singers