Cécile Simonnet (4 March 1863,

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...

- 5 April 1921,

Ravières Ravières () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. See also *Communes of the Yonne department The following is a list of the 423 communes of the Yonne department of France. The communes co ...

) was a French

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

tic soprano.Gourret J. ''Dictionnaire des cantatrices de l'Opera de Paris.'' Editions Albatros, Paris, 1987. Having obtained in Lille a first prize for singing, she entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1882, graduating in 1884 with first prize in song and opéra-comique (pupil of Bax).Martin J. ''Nos artists; portraits et biographies.'' Paul Ollendorff, Paris, 1895. Simonnet made her debut in Monte-Carlo in January 1885 under Pasdeloup. Her

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienn ...

in Paris debut was on 10 September 1885 in the title role of ''Lakmé''. Her repertoire included Philine in ''

Mignon ''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. ...

'', Mireille, ''Le Pré aux clercs'', and Violetta in ''La Traviata''.Wolff S. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900-1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. She notably portrayed Rosenn in the premiere of Edouard Lalo's '' Le roi d'Ys'' (7 May 1888), as well as creating the roles of Angiola in ''Proserpine'' by Saint-Saëns and Angélique in ''Le Rêve'' by Bruneau. She was singing Philine in ''Mignon'' the night of the fire at the Salle Favart on 25 May 1887. She performed in Nice, Aix-les-Bains, London (Covent-Garden) and was engaged at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels for the 1894-95 season.

References

French operatic sopranos 1865 births Year of death missing Musicians from Lille {{France-opera-singer-stub