Juliette-Joséphine Simon-Girard (8 May 1859 – 1954) was a French soprano, principally in operetta.Gänzl K. Juliette Simon-Girard. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Her father, , was an actor at the Comédie Française, and her mother was

Caroline Girard Caroline Girard (7 April 1830)Kutsch & Riemens 2003, p. 1741. was a French operatic Mezzo-soprano. She was the mother of Juliette Simon-Girard.Walsh TJ. ''Second Empire Opera – The Théâtre-Lyrique Paris 1851-1870.'' John Calder Ltd, London, 19 ...

, of the Opéra-Comique.

Career

Girard was born at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. After studies at the Conservatoire in 1876 (in the class of Henri de Régnier) she made her debut at the

Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue f ...

as Carlinette in Offenbach's ''La foire Saint-Laurent'' on 10 February 1877, and then became an overnight star by creating the role of Serpolette in ''

Les cloches de Corneville ''Les cloches de Corneville'' (''The Bells of Corneville'', sometimes known in English as ''The Chimes of Normandy'') is an opéra-comique in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet. The st ...

'' on 19 April 1877.Martin J. ''Nos artistes des théâtres et concerts.'' Paul Ollendorff, Paris, 1895. During the run of ''Les cloches de Corneville'' she met and married the well-known tenor

Simon-Max Nicolas-Marie Simon (1852, in Reims, France – 1923), known as Simon-Max, was a French tenor who was mainly active in Paris in the field of opera-bouffe. After musical studies in Reims he made his debut in 1875 at the Théâtre de la Renaissa ...

, thereafter becoming Mme Simon-Girard. At the age of 19, she created the title role in Offenbach’s ''

Madame Favart ''Madame Favart'' is an opéra comique, or operetta, in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot. Performance history After defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870) ended Napoleon III' ...

''; then '' La fille du tambour-major'' in 1879 becoming one of Paris’s most popular performers, prominent on the city's stages for 30 years. At the Folies-Dramatiques she also created roles in ''Beau Nicolas'' (1880), ''Les poupées de l'infante'' (1881), ''Fanfan la tulipe'' (1882), ''La princesse des Canaries'' (1883); moving to the

Théâtre des Nouveautés The Théâtre des Nouveautés ("Theatre of the New") is a Parisian theatre built in 1921 and located at 24 boulevard Poissonnière (Paris, 9th arr.). The name was also used by several earlier Parisian theatre companies and their buildings, begin ...

she was in the premiere of ''La vie mondaine''. On return to the Folies-Dramatiques she replaced Ugalde in ''Les petits mousquetaires'' and then created the title role in '' La fauvette du temple'' (17 November 1885). After singing with her husband in the premiere of ''La chatte blanche'', at the Théâtre du Châtelet on 2 April 1887, she spent a year in Belgium which included the premiere of Lecocq's '' Ali-Baba''. Simon-Girard’s return to Paris was at the Théâtre de la Gaîté in 1888 in revivals of ''Le grand Mogul'' and ''La fille du tambour-major'', before creating the title role in ''Voyage de Suzette'' on 20 January 1890. After several productions at the Théâtre de la Renaissance (where she created ''Mlle Asmodée'' in 1891 and ''La femme de Narcisse'' in 1892, and revived ''

La jolie parfumeuse ''La jolie parfumeuse'' is an opéra comique in three acts of 1873 with music by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was by Hector Crémieux and Ernest Blum. Performance history The opera was premiered at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, Pari ...

'' in 1892, she went back to the Folies-Dramatiques and created Eva in Varney’s ''Miss Robinson'' on 17 July 1892. From 1893, she was at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens with more premieres including Olga in Pessard's Mam'zelle Carabin (3 November 1893). She met her second husband Félix Huguenet while performing in ''L’enlèvement de la Toledad'' in 1894, and from then on took on more comedy acting parts. In November 1899 she took the title role at the

Théâtre des Variétés The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974. History It owes its creation to the theatre director Mademoiselle ...

in a major and successful revival of ''

La belle Hélène ''La belle Hélène'' (, ''The Beautiful Helen'') is an opéra bouffe in three acts, with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The piece parodies the story of Helen of Troy, Helen's elopement with Paris (myt ...

'', which ran for over five hundred performances. In 1903, Simon-Girard made recordings of songs from Offenbach operettas (''Barbe-bleue'', ''Belle Hélène'', ''Madame Favart'', ''La Jolie Parfumeuse'', ''La Périchole'' and ''La Grande-Duchesse''), Crichton R. The Operettas of Offenbach. In: ''Opera on Record 3''. Blyth, A (ed). Hutchinson, London, 1984, p181. excerpts from ''Les cloches de Corneville'', and songs by Messager, Audran and Lecocq. She died at

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

. Her son was Aimé Simon-Girard.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon-Girard, Juliette 1859 births 1954 deaths Singers from Paris Conservatoire de Paris alumni French operatic sopranos 19th-century French women opera singers 20th-century French women opera singers