Jean-Baptiste Singry - Joséphine Mainvielle-Fodor

Joséphine Fodor (13 October 1789 or 1793 – 10 August 1870), also known under the name Joséphine Fodor-Mainvielle, was a French 19th-century lyrical artist ( soprano).

Biography

Geneviève Joséphine Fodor, the daughter of composer and violinist Josephus Andreas Fodor (1751–1828) and Louise Edme Marmet, was born in Paris in 1789 or 1793. Her parents left France for Russia when she was only a few months old, emigrating probably because of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. She grew up in Saint Petersburg where her father, a teacher of the imperial children, taught her the harp and piano.Musicologie.org, biographie de Joséphine Fodor
Read online
/ref> In 1810, she made her debut in Fioravanti's (1770–1837) opera '' Le cantatrici villane'' at the Impérial Opera of Saint Petersburg,Camille Dreyfus, ''La Grande encyclopédie, inventaire raisonné des sciences, des lettres et des arts'', volume 22
Read online
singing in both Russian and French.''Bulletin de la Société historique d'Auteuil et de Passy'', 1904
Read online
/ref> In 1812, she married Jean-Baptiste Tharaud-Mainvielle, an actor at the French theatre of Saint Petersburg. Shortly afterwards, the couple left St. Petersburg, which was under attack during the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

and went to France via Finland. After a few performances at the

Opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

in Paris, she was engaged by the

Comédie-Italienne Comédie-Italienne or Théâtre-Italien are French names which have been used to refer to Italian-language theatre and opera when performed in France. The earliest recorded visits by Italian players were commedia dell'arte companies employed b ...

and made her debut on 16 November 1814 in ''

Griselda Griselda is a feminine given name from Germanic sources that is now used in English, Italian, and Spanish as well. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States. It has been ...

''. She performed in London and Venice afterwards, before her return to the Comédie-Italienne in 1819 to sing in ''

Il matrimonio segreto ' (''The Secret Marriage'') is a dramma giocoso in two acts, music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, based on the 1766 play '' The Clandestine Marriage'' by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick. It was first performe ...

'', ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spani ...

'', '' Le Barbier de Séville'' and ''

La gazza ladra ''La gazza ladra'' (, ''The Thieving Magpie'') is a '' melodramma'' or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Giovanni Gherardini based on ''La pie voleuse'' by Théodore Baudouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Cai ...

''. She went to Italy for her health, and toured to Naples where she triumphed in ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play '' Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. ...

'' and Vienna before returning to Paris in 1825 for further performances at the Comédie Italienne. Shortly afterwards, she suffered from vocal difficulties, gradually ended her operatic career and withdrew from the stage. She stayed for a while in

Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is home to many of the city's wealthiest residents. Passy was a commune on the outskirts of Paris. In 1658, hot springs were discovered around whic ...

. where she worked for charities, then in Limoges. A widow, she moved to Lyon where her son Martial Tharaud-Mainvielle lived. In 1857, she published ''Réflexions et conseils sur l'art du chant''. She died in

Saint-Genis-Laval Saint-Genis-Laval () is a commune in the metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The Lyon Observatory is located in this commune. History Saint-Genis-Laval draws its name from Saint Genis or Genest, a Roman ...

on 10 August 1870, in the country house of her daughter-in-law. Her daughter Henriette, who was also a singer, was engaged by the

Königsstädtisches Theater Königsstädtisches Theater was the name of different theater buildings in Berlin in the 19th and 20th century. The first Königsstädtisches Theater was built by Carl Theodor Ottmer in , a former settlement neighboring Berlin that is today par ...

in Berlin between 1846 and 1849.

George Grove Sir George Grove (13 August 182028 May 1900) was an English engineer and writer on music, known as the founding editor of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Grove was trained as a civil engineer, and successful in that profession, ...

, ''A Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', Fodor-Mainvielle Joséphine, 1900
consultable sur Wikisource

Bibliography

* ''Annuaire administratif, biographique, statistique, industriel et commercial de la ville de Passy'', 1858
Read online
* Camille Dreyfus, ''La Grande encyclopédie, inventaire raisonné des sciences, des lettres et des arts'', volume 22
Read online
* François Joseph Fétis, ''Biographie universelle des musiciens, et bibliographie générale de la musique'', 1883
Read online
* Charles Unger
''Joséphine Mainvielle-Fodor, Précis historique''
Vienna, 1823

References

External links

Fodor-Mainvielle, Josephine
(Grande Musica) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fodor, Josephine 18th-century births 1870 deaths Year of birth uncertain Singers from Paris French operatic sopranos 19th-century French women opera singers