Marie Fel (24 October 1713 – 2 February 1794) was a French opera singer and a daughter of the organist Henri Fel.
Marie Fel was born at
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...
. She made her debut at the
Paris Opera in 1733 and sang regularly at the
Concert Spirituel
The Concert Spirituel ( en, Spiritual Concert) was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, Londo ...
. In a career that lasted 35 years, she sang in all the operas of
Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and ...
along with
Pierre Jélyotte
Pierre Jélyotte (13 April 1713 – 11 September 1797) was a French operatic tenor, particularly associated with works by Rameau, Lully, Campra, Mondonville and Destouches.
Life and career
Born Pierre Grichon in Lasseube, he studied ...
, created roles in those of
Mondonville, and participated in revivals of those of
Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...
and
Campra. She retired from the stage in 1758, but continued to perform in concert until 1769. She died in
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 ...
.
She had a long-term relationship with the painter
Quentin de La Tour, who painted her portrait. "The greatest personalities of her age sought her good graces and gave her lively proofs of their affections," including men of letters such as the
Baron von Grimm and the Encyclopédiste
Louis de Cahusac.
[Emile Campardon, L’Académie Royale de Musique au XVIII Siècle: Documents inédites découverts aux Archives Nationales (Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1884), I:37] The French actress and singer
Sophie Arnould
Sophie Arnould (13 February 1740, in Paris – 18 October 1802, in Paris) was a French operatic soprano.
Born Magdeleine Sophie Arnould, she studied in Paris with Marie Fel and La Clairon, and made her stage debut at the Opéra de Paris on 15 ...
was one of her students.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fel, Marie
French operatic sopranos
18th-century French women opera singers
Musicians from Bordeaux
1713 births
1794 deaths