Françoise 'Fanchon' Moreau (1668 – after 1743) was a French

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

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 ...

who belonged to the

Académie Royale de Musique The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

, also a celebrated beauty who was a favourite of the Great Dauphin.

Opera career

Following her older sister

Louison Moreau Louise 'Louison' Moreau (born before 1668 – died after 1692) was a French operatic soprano who belonged to the Académie Royale de Musique, also a popular celebrity commonly referred to as one of the ''filles de l'opéra.'' Opera career Prec ...

, Fanchon made her debut at the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

in 1683 in the prologue of '' Phaëton'' by

Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...

, probably playing the role of Astrée. She remained with the company until at least 1702. Her sister stayed until 1692, during which period both sisters were referred to as Mlle Moreau, which sometimes makes it difficult to determine who sang what. She sang in operas by Lully, Campra, Charpentier, Destouches, Collasse, Desmarets, and Theobaldo Gatti including many premieres.

Roles created

*Astrée (?) in Lully's '' Phaëton'' (Paris, 1683) *Oriane in Lully's '' Amadis'' (Paris, 1684) *Sidonie in Lully's '' Armide'' (Paris, 1686) *Anne in

Henri Desmarets Henri Desmarets (February 1661 – 7 September 1741) was a French composer of the Baroque music, Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumenta ...

's '' Didon'' (Paris, 1693) *Créuse in Charpentier's ''

Médée ''Médée'' is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century Fr ...

'' (Paris, 1693) *Doris in Destouches's ''

Issé Issé (; Gallo: ''Isae'', ) is a commune on the banks of the river Don in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. It is situated 10 km southeast of Châteaubriant. Population Transport The train station reopened in 2014, ...

'' (Paris, 1697) *Olympia in Campra's ''

L'Europe galante ''L'Europe galante'' (''Galant Europe'') is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and four entrées by André Campra to a French libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte. The opera is regarded as the first opéra-ballet, with the entrées sharing a com ...

'' (Paris, 1697) *The title role of Campra's ''

Hésione ''Hésione'' (English: ''Hesione'') is an opera by the France, French composer André Campra. It takes the form of a ''tragédie en musique'' in a prologue and five acts. The libretto, by Antoine Danchet, is based on the Greek mythology, Greek myt ...

'' (Paris, 1700)

Celebrity

Like her sister, Fanchon received the attentions of Louis, the Great Dauphin.

Julie d'Aubigny Julie d'Aubigny (; 1673–1707), better known as Mademoiselle Maupin or La Maupin, was a French opera singer. Little is known for certain about her life; her tumultuous career and flamboyant lifestyle were the subject of gossip, rumour, and c ...

, the swordswoman and opera singer known as La Maupin, also fell in love with her and tried to commit suicide when she was rejected. Fanchon later became the long-term mistress of Philippe de Vendôme, fourth

Duke of Vendôme Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they a ...

. Fanchon's colourful love life was referred to in

François Couperin François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque music, Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musi ...

's ''La femme entre deux draps'' and was also the subject of his

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

composition ''La tendre Fanchon''.

Sources

*Anthony, James R (1992), 'Moreau, Fanchon' in ''The

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London) {{DEFAULTSORT:Moreau, Fanchon 1668 births 18th-century deaths French operatic sopranos 17th-century French women opera singers 18th-century French women opera singers