Fanély Revoil, born

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

25 September 1906, died

Annonay Annonay (; ) is a Communes of France, commune and largest city in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the ...

31 January 1999, was a French singer who had a major career in

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

between the 1930s and 1989.’L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en France (1918-1940)’ (http://comedie-musicale.jgana.fr/index.htm), accessed 22.03.10. She was married to theater director Robert Ancelin from 1937 to 1942.

Career

After starting work as a secretary Revoil followed courses in singing and acting at the Marseille Conservatoire, making her debut in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

in 1928 in ''

Gillette de Narbonne ''Gillette de Narbonne'' is an ''opéra comique'' in three acts, with music by Edmond Audran and words by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot. It is based on a fabliau from ''The Decameron'' and depicts a rejected bride posing as another woman to dece ...

'' (which also marked her farewell to the stage in 1957), then appeared in

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

in '' Comtesse Maritza'', before joining the company in

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

, singing in operettas from both the Paris and Vienna traditions (including the French premiere of ''Frasquita''), as well as in ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

''.Gourret J. ''Dictionnaire des cantatrices de l'Opera de Paris.'' Editions Albatros, Paris, 1987. In 1933, she made her first appearances in Paris, at the

Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin () is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. History It was first built very rapidly in 1781 under the direction of (1726–1810) to hou ...

in small roles before creating Madame Dubarry in the French premiere of '' La Dubarry''. Following this success, others followed including Paris premieres of creations in ''Valses de Vienne'' (1933), '' Le Tzaréwitch'' (1935), ''Un coup de veine'' (1935), ''Au soleil du Mexique'' (1935) and ''La Belle traversée'' (1937). After the Porte Saint Martin she made her debut at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

(creating the role of Lucine in '' Le testament de la tante Caroline''), and although never a member of the company she sang regularly with them for ten years, including Lazuli in '' L'étoile'', la Guimard in ''Fragonard'' and the title role in '' Ciboulette''. Revoil appeared many times at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

, in ''Soleil du Mexique'', ''Nina Rosa'', ''

Rose-Marie ''Rose-Marie'' is an operetta-style musical with music by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart, and book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. The story is set in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and concerns Rose-Marie La Flemme, a F ...

'', and created the title role in ''La Maréchale sans-gêne'' there in 1948. At the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

she performed in the premiere of '' Virginie Dejazet'' in 1946. She made many foreign tours (Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Britain) often alongside Willy Clément. After retiring from the stage she taught operetta singing at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

Recordings and broadcasts

As well as the 1941 recording of excerpts from ''L'étoile'' under

Roger Désormière Roger Désormière () (13 September 1898 – 25 October 1963) was a French conducting, conductor. He was an enthusiastic champion of contemporary composers, but also conducted performances of early eighteenth century French music. Life and career ...

and the complete 1948 recording of ''

The Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

'' under

André Cluytens Augustin Zulma Alphonse "André" Cluytens (, ; 26 March 19053 June 1967)Baeck E. ''André Cluytens: Itinéraire d’un chef d’orchestre.'' Editions Mardaga, Wavre, 2009. was a Belgian-born French conducting, conductor who was active in the conce ...

, Revoil sang in many French radio recordings of operettas and opéra-comiques during the 1950s, including several of ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The opera depicts the mutual love of two impoverished Peruvian street singers – too poor to afford a marriage ...

'',L'Avant-Scène Opéra, La Périchole - No 66, August 1984, p114. and appeared in the film ''Les deux gamines'' in 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Revoil, Fanely 1906 births 1999 deaths Musicians from Marseille French operatic mezzo-sopranos 20th-century French women opera singers