Charles-Louis Sainte-Foy, born Charles-Louis Pubereaux, also known simply as Sainte-Foy (13 February 1817 – 1 April 1877) was a French operatic

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 ...

who sang 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 ...

for over 30 years.

Life and career

Sainte-Foy was born in

Vitry-le-François Vitry-le-François () is a Communes of France, commune in the Marne (department), Marne Departments of France, department in northeastern France. It is located on the river Marne (river), Marne and is the western terminus of the Marne–Rhine Ca ...

, a small town in north-eastern France. His father, Jean Pubereaux, was a musician who had been given the nickname "Sainte-Foy" by his army comrades during the Napoleonic Wars. When he was discharged from the army, he gave music lessons and opened the Café Sainte-Foy in Vitry. The young Charles-Louis was originally apprenticed to a cabinet maker, but after displaying little enthusiasm for the job, his father sent him to the

Paris Conservatory 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 ...

in 1836 where he studied music under Garaudé and Panseron and acting with Morin.''Almanach Matot-Braine de la Marne, de l'Aisne & des Ardennes'' (1878)
Notices nécrologiques: "Sainte-Foy"
(republished on La Vie Rémoise). Retrieved 20 July 2013 . Sainte-Foy made his debut at the Opéra-Comique in 1840 and became one of its most popular tenors, not so much for the quality of his voice but for his ability as a comic actor. It was said of him that "the Opéra-Comique without Sainte-Foy is like dinner without wine." In 1845

Jean-Pierre Dantan Jean-Pierre Dantan (28 December 1800, in Paris – 6 September 1869, in Baden-Baden), known as Dantan the Younger, was a French portrait sculptor. His subjects include many famous figures from the realms of politics (for example, Talleyrand, ...

made a sculptural caricature of him as Bertrand in Monsigny's '' Le déserteur'', one of his signature roles. During the course of his career he created numerous character roles including Ali-Bajou in Thomas's '' Le caïd'' and Patachon in Offenbach's ''

Les deux aveugles ''Les deux aveugles'' (, ''The Two Blind Men'' or ''The Blind Beggars'') is an 1855 one-act French ''bouffonerie musicale'' (operetta) by Jacques Offenbach.Lamb 1992, p. 1143. The libretto was written by Jules Moinaux and was a condensation of ...

''.Le Tellier, Robert Ignatius (ed.) (2004)
''The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer: The Last Years 1857-1864''
p. 208. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press He retained a great affection for his native town and returned to Vitry every year to give a charity performance in the small theatre there. Sainte-Foy died in Paris at the age of 60.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sainte-Foy, Charles-Louis 1817 births 1877 deaths People from Vitry-le-François French operatic tenors 19th-century French male opera singers