Zulma Madeleine Boufflar, known as Zulma Bouffar, (24 May 1841 – 20 January 1909), was a French actress and soprano singer, associated with the opéra-bouffe of Paris in the second half of the 19th century who enjoyed a successful career around Europe.

Life and career

At the age of six, Bouffar appeared in ''La fille bien gardée'' in Marseille, and followed this with successful performances in Lyon. Her father then toured with her around western Europe and Scandinavia. After her father’s death in 1854 she continued travelling, bringing into her repertoire some of the contemporary songs of Offenbach, who heard her sing in Hamburg in 1864. The same year Bouffar appeared at

Bad Ems Bad Ems () is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a spa on the river Lahn. Bad Ems is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' (administrative community) Ba ...

in Offenbach's ''

Lischen et Fritzchen ''Lischen et Fritzchen'' is a one-act operetta (« conversation alsacienne » - Alsatian conversation) with music by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by ‘P Dubois’ (Paul Boisselot), first performed in 1863. Performance history The p ...

'', and repeated her success in Paris.Gänzl K. ''The Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre.'' Blackwell, Oxford, 1994. From this time for about 12 years Bouffar was probably Offenbach's mistress – his longest extra-marital liaison. She created Nani in '' Les géorgiennes'', Éros, L'Intendant and Jeannet in '' Les bergers'', Gabrielle in '' La Vie parisienne'', Drogan in ''

Geneviève de Brabant ''Geneviève de Brabant'' is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1859. The plot is based on the medieval legend of Genevieve of Brabant. For the 1867 version two additional characters, men-at-arms, ...

'', Toto in '' Le château à Toto'', Fragoletto in ''

Les Brigands ''Les brigands'' (''The Bandits'') is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Meilhac and Halévy's libretto lampoons both serious drama (Schiller's play ''The Robbers'') ...

'', Robin Luron in ''

Le Roi Carotte ''Le roi Carotte'' (''King Carrot'') is a 4-act opéra- bouffe- féerie with music by Jacques Offenbach and libretto by Victorien Sardou, after E. T. A. Hoffmann. The libretto, written before the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, lampoone ...

'', Ginetta in ''Les braconniers'', Moschetta in '' Il signor Fagotto'' and Prince Caprice in ''

Le voyage dans la lune ''A Trip to the Moon'' (french: Le Voyage dans la Lune) is a 1902 French adventure film, adventure short film directed by Georges Méliès. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including Jules Verne's 1865 novel ''From the Earth to the Moon' ...

'' – a range of men's and women's roles. In 1873 Bouffar was reported in the Parisian press to have been considered for the title role of

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become o ...

's new opera, '' Carmen''. Although the composer refuted the story, the singer did attend the premiere of the piece in 1875.Curtiss M. ''Bizet and his world.'' New York, Vienna House, 1958. From 1891 to 1893 Bouffar became the manager of the

Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique The Théâtre de l’Ambigu-Comique (, literally, Theatre of the Comic-Ambiguity), a former Parisian theatre, was founded in 1769 on the boulevard du Temple immediately adjacent to the Théâtre de Nicolet. It was rebuilt in 1770 and 1786, but in ...

. In the latter part of her stage career, Bouffar appeared in operettas by Lecocq and

Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually re ...

, and sang around Europe. She announced her retirement from the stage in 1902.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouffar, Zulma 1841 births 1909 deaths French operatic sopranos French operatic mezzo-sopranos People from Nérac French theatre managers and producers Women theatre managers and producers 19th-century French women singers