Cécile Thévenet (born November 22, 1872) was a Belgian opera singer.

Early life

Cécile Thévenet was born in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Scienc ...

, the daughter of Alphonse Thévenet and Anne Van Vyve. Her father was a music teacher and baritone singer. She was raised and educated in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. Her brothers Pierre Thévenet (1870-1937) and (1874-1930) became painters.

Career

Cécile Thévenet sang with the

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. "Alike as a singer and an actress Mlle. Thévenet is a very great artist, a wonderfully clever creator of the characters she represents", commented one American publication in 1905. In 1913 she sang the part of Euryclea in the premiere of

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

's ''

Pénélope ''Pénélope'' is an opera in three acts by the French composer Gabriel Fauré. The libretto, by René Fauchois is based on Homer's ''Odyssey''. It was first performed at the Salle Garnier, Monte Carlo on 4 March 1913. The piece is dedicated to ...

'' in Paris, with

Lucienne Bréval Lucienne Bréval (4 November 1869 – 15 August 1935) was a Swiss dramatic soprano who had a major international opera career from 1892 to 1918. Although she appeared throughout Europe and in the United States, Bréval spent most of her career pe ...

in the title role. She was also in the original cast of the

Gustave Charpentier Gustave Charpentier (; 25 June 1860 – 18 February 1956) was a French composer, best known for his opera '' Louise''.Langham Smith R., "Gustave Charpentier", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Life and ...

opera '' Julien'', in 1913. She was known for her performances of ''

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 Opér ...

''. Other roles Thévenet sang included Musette in

Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera ''Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained h ...

's '' La bohéme'' (1899), Leoncavallo's ''Zaza'' (1900), Caroline in ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

'' (1904), ''La Chouanne'' (1907), the Nurse in

Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...

's '' Ariane et Barbe-bleue'' (1910), and

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther'' ...

's '' Thérèse'' (1913).

Personal life

Thévenet died after May 1914.

References

External links

A photograph of Cécile Thévenet as Musette
in ''La boheme'' (1900), at

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets— creati ...

.
A photograph of Thévenet as Caroline
in ''Die fledermaus'' (1904), at Getty Images.
A photograph of Thévenet as Catherine
in ''Le chemineau'' (1907), at Getty Images. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thévenet, Cécile 1872 births Belgian opera singers Musicians from Bruges Year of death missing