Émilie Mily Meyer, stage name 'Mily-Meyer' was a French soprano, born 1852 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 ...

, died there in 1927, who for a quarter of a century became a major star of the Parisian operetta stage, and is described by Gänzl as "impishly boyish yet obviously feminine soubrette".Gänzl, K. ''The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre.'' Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.

Career

Her professional début was at the Eldorado café-concert; she then went to the

Théâtre de la Renaissance The name Théâtre de la Renaissance has been used successively for three distinct Parisian theatre companies. The first two companies, which were short-lived enterprises in the 19th century, used the Salle Ventadour, now an office building on t ...

and appeared as the young duchess in the premiere of ''

Le petit duc ''Le petit duc'' (''The little duke'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Charles Lecocq. The French language, French libretto was by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Performance history The opera was first presented at the Théâtre de la R ...

'' on 25 January 1878. Creations in '' La Camargo'' (1878), ''Petite Mademoiselle'' (1879) and ''

Belle Lurette ''Belle Lurette'' is a three-act opéra comique with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Ernest Blum, Edouard Blau and Raoul Toché. It was first performed at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, Paris, on 30 October 1880. The composer died before ...

'' (1880) swiftly followed. Mily-Meyer appeared at 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 ...

as Kate in the French premiere of '' Rip'' and at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens as Bianca in the first run of '' La Béarnaise'' in 1885. Also at

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 ...

was ''

La princesse de Trébizonde ''La Princesse de Trébizonde'' is an opéra bouffe with music by Jacques Offenbach and text by Étienne Tréfeu and Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter. The work was first given in two acts at the Theater Baden-Baden on 31 July 1869 and subsequently ...

'', while at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques she was in the French premiere of Millöcker's ''La Demoiselle de Belleville'' ''(Die Jungfrau von Belleville)''. Among many other operettas in which she sang were ''Roi de Carreau'' (1885) and ''Babolin'' (1884) at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques (November 1884); ''La vie mondaine'' (1885) at the

, and at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, '' La Béarnaise'' (1885), as Benjamine in ''Joséphine'' (1886), ''Gamine de Paris'' (1887), ''Le Retour d'Ulysse'' (1889), '' Le mari de la reine'' (1889), ''Cendrillonnette'' (1890) and revivals of ''Les petits mousquetaires'' and ''La Princesse de Trébizonde''. Back at the Renaissance, she created ''La gardeuse d'oies'' (1888) and ''La petite Poucette'' (1891); followed by ''La Demoiselle du Téléphone'' (1891) at the Nouveautés, ''Fleur de Vertu'' (1894) at the Bouffes, and ''L'Élève du Conservatoire'' (1894) at the Théâtre des Menus-Plaisirs.Martin, J. ''Nos artistes des théâtres et concerts.'' Paris: Paul Ollendorff, 1895.

Chabrier Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...

dedicated his 1889 'Villanelle des petits canards' to Mily-Meyer, who gave the song's premiere at the

Théâtre du Vaudeville The Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre company in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles. Af ...

on 7 March 1890.Delage, R. ''Emmanuel Chabrier.'' Fayard, Paris, 1999. Mily-Meyer continued to appear on stage up until 1906.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mily-Meyer 1852 births 1927 deaths Musicians from Paris French operatic sopranos 19th-century French women singers