Caroline Duprez (10 April 1832 - 17 April 1875) was a French

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

. She was the daughter and pupil of the

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Gilbert Duprez Gilbert-Louis Duprez (6 December 180623 September 1896) was a French tenor, singing teacher and minor composer who famously pioneered the delivery of the operatic high C from the chest (''Ut de poitrine'', as Paris audiences called it). He also c ...

. À member of the troupe of 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 ...

from 1852 to 1857, she premiered numerous roles in the opéras-comiques composed at that time by Auber, Meyerbeer, Massé and Halévy.Caroline Duprez's roles
on Gallica

Life

Born in Florence, Duprez was the daughter the famous French tenor Gilbert Duprez and Alexandrine Duperron. She studied with her father and began performing in

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

in 1850. She then joined the Comédie Italienne in Paris, sang in London in 1851 and then in Brussels in 1851-1852. She returned to Paris in 1852 to premiere the main role of her father's work, ''Joanita'',(a revision of his earlier ''L'abime de la maladetta''), at the Théâtre-Lyrique For 5 years she was with the Opéra-Comique where she premiered the roles of Angela in Daniel-François-Esprit Auber's ''Marco Sparda'' (1852), Catherine in Meyerbeer's ''

L'Étoile du nord ''L'Étoile du Nord'' is a French language, French phrase meaning "The Star of the North". It is the List of U.S. state mottos, motto of the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the only U.S. state motto in French. It was chosen by the state's first gov ...

'' (1854), Jenny Bell in the eponymous work by Auber (1855), Simone in Massé's ''Les Saisons'' (1855) and Halèvy's '' Valentine d'Aubigny'' (1856). Her voice, pure and agile, was particularly admired in its high register. She sang the roles of light soprano at the Paris Opera from 1860 to 1864. After touring the provinces for two years, she created her last role at the Opéra-Comique in 1866 in Massé's ''Fior d'Aliza''. Fragile in health and suffering from tuberculosis, she withdrew from the stage shortly afterwards and spent her last four years in Pau, alongside her husband, the violinist Amédée Van den Heuvel. She died there in 1875.

Sources

* Andrew Gann, "Caroline Duprez", ''Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XIXe siècle'' under the direction of Joël-Marie Fauquet,

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

, Paris, 2003, 1406 p.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duprez, Caroline 1832 births 1875 deaths Musicians from Florence French operatic sopranos 19th-century French women opera singers