Marthe Duvivier

Marthe Louise Ernestine Duvivier (27 April 1850, Paris – 28 May 1933, Paris)Marthe Duvivier
at the Bibliothèque nationale de France was a French operatic mezzo-soprano.

Born in Paris, Duvivier studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, where she received first prize for her work. On December 19, 1881, she created the role of Salomé in ''Hérodiade'' by Jules Massenet at La Monnaie in Brussels, afterwards accompanying the composer to a dinner party given for French attendees of the performance. She debuted at the Paris Opera on June 20, 1883, as Valentine in ''Les Huguenots'' by Giacomo Meyerbeer. Other of his operas in which she sang include ''L'Africaine'', in which she performed Selika, and ''Le prophète'', in which she sang Berthe; among the other roles which she essayed during her career were Ortrud in ''Lohengrin'' by Richard Wagner, Inez in ''La favorite'' by Gaetano Donizetti, Leonora in ''Il trovatore'' by Giuseppe Verdi, Marguerite in ''La damnation de Faust'' by Hector Berlioz, and Margherita in ''Mefistofele'' by Arrigo Boito. She also performed the music of Augusta Holmès. Massenet spoke highly of her "talent, reputation, and beauty", for which she won plaudits during her career. Besides Paris and Brussels, she also sang in Nantes. Duvivier married an inventor and had a daughter, Marguerite, whose son was archaeologist Max Mallowan. She later translated English novels into French under the pseudonym "Luce Gritte".

References

1850 births
1933 deaths
French operatic mezzo-sopranos
19th-century French women opera singers
Singers from Paris
Conservatoire de Paris alumni

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