Yvonne Printemps

Yvonne Printemps (; born Yvonne Wigniolle; 25 July 1894 – 19 January 1977) was a French singer and actress who achieved stardom on stage and screen in France and internationally.

Printemps went on the stage in Paris at the age of 12, and at 21 she was singled out by the actor, director and playwright Sacha Guitry as a leading lady. In 1919 they were married, and worked closely together until 1932, when they divorced. Printemps never remarried, but had a personal and professional partnership with the actor Pierre Fresnay which lasted until his death in 1975.

As a performer, Printemps was famed for the quality of her singing voice and for her personal charm. Among those who composed for her were André Messager, Reynaldo Hahn, Noël Coward and Francis Poulenc. Her voice could have led her to an operatic career, but guided by Guitry she concentrated on operette and other types of musical show, along with non-musical plays and films. In addition to her many successes in Paris she appeared to great acclaim in the West End of London, and on Broadway in New York.

Biography

Early years

Printemps was born in Ermont, a northern suburb of Paris, as Yvonne Wigniolle. Despite the misgivings of what she later described as "my highly ''bourgeois'' family", she made her debut as a performer at the age of 12 in a revue at La Cigale in Paris.Steane, J B
"Printemps, Yvonne"
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie, Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed 26 April 2013 The music critic J. B. Steane writes of her, "A career at the Opéra-Comique seemed possible, for she had a voice of delightful quality with prodigious breath control."

The possibility of an operatic career did not materialise. Printemps was dancing at the Folies Bergère at the age of 13. She was given the sobriquet Printemps (springtime) by her fellow chorus members because of her sunny disposition, and adopted it as her stage name. She appeared in small roles in light musical shows such as ''Les Contes de Perrault'' (1913). Louis Verneuil saw her in one of them while he was writing a revue, ''1915'', and insisted on casting her in the leading part in it."Yvonne Printemps", ''The Times'', 20 January 1977, p. 16 In the revue she performed a parody of the actor-playwright Sacha Guitry, "whose mannerisms she imitated with spry irreverence." Guitry's wife, Charlotte, saw the show, was greatly amused and soon afterwards brought her husband to see it.Harding, p. 85

With Sacha Guitry

In November 1915 Guitry cast Printemps in his new revue, which he directed but did not appear in. A year later they acted together in his new comedy, ''Jean de la Fontaine''. It was rumoured that Printemps was having an affair with Guitry's father, the eminent actor Lucien Guitry;Gielgud, Sir John. "Golden Days", ''The Times'', 26 February 1977, p. 7 whatever the truth of that rumour, it is undisputed that she became romantically involved with Sacha. Charlotte Guitry, discovering the liaison, left her husband; they divorced in 1918 and in April 1919 he married Printemps.

Guitry wrote many plays for her, some musical and others straight comedies. Both he and his father appeared with her in several of them, including ''Mon Père avait raison'' and ''Comment on ecrit l'histoire''. They played together not only in Paris, but in the West End of London. All three appeared at the Aldwych Theatre in a four-week season in 1920. Sir John Gielgud wrote that Printemps and her husband "returned … many times to delight London in various pieces artfully contrived by him to show them both off to the best possible advantage." He described her thus:

In 1925 Guitry had the idea of writing a musical comedy about the life of the youthful Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart while in Paris in the 1770s. To compose the score he approached André Messager, with whom he had successfully collaborated in 1923 on a show for Printemps, ''L'amour masqué''. Messager was unavailable and recommended the young composer Reynaldo Hahn, who accepted the commission. The resulting production, ''Mozart'', took some liberties with historical accuracy, but it proved highly popular.Engelson, p. 36 Printemps, in a breeches role, played and sang the young Mozart, with Guitry as the composer's patron, Baron Grimm. Gielgud recalled, "she seemed ravishingly youthful and touching in her powdered wig, black knee breeches and buckled shoes, while Sacha hovered over her with avuncular authority, not attempting to try to sing himself, but contributing a kind of flowing, rhythmic accompaniment with his speeches, delivered in a deep caressing voice." After playing successfully at the Théâtre Edouard VII, the company presented the piece for a three-week season in London in June and July 1926. The critic James Agate wrote, "It is not exaggerating to say that on Monday evening people were observed to cry, and by that I mean shed tears, when Music's heavenly child appeared at the top of the stairs. At that moment of her entrance this exquisite artist made conquest of the house, and subsequently held it in thrall until the final curtain." After the London production, Guitry took the piece to Broadway, Boston and Montreal in late 1926 and early 1927.Sharland, p. 85

After Guitry

In 1932 Printemps's marriage to Guitry broke up. Guitry soon remarried; Printemps never did so, but became the personal and professional partner of the actor Pierre Fresnay. In February 1934 she had a personal success in London in Noël Coward's ''Conversation Piece

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