Lucy Arbell (''née'' Georgette Gall, later Georgette Wallace) (8 June 1878 – 21 May 1947) was a French

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

whose operatic career was mainly centred in Paris and who was particularly associated with the composer

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

Life and career

Georgette's father was Edmond Richard Wallace (1840–1887), son of Sir Richard Wallace, the renowned art collector and philanthropist. Arbell made her stage debut as Dalila at the Paris Opéra on 23 October 1903. She also sang there as Amneris in '' Aida'', Madalena in ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'', Uta in ''

Sigurd Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred t ...

'', Fricka in '' Die Walküre'' and '' Thérèse''. She had a close association with the late operas of Massenet, creating roles in '' Ariane'' (Perséphone), ''Thérèse'' (title role), ''

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

'' (Queen Amahelli), '' Don Quichotte'' (Dulcinée) in Monte-Carlo and Paris, '' Roma'' (Postumia), and '' Panurge'' (Colombe). She had a close relationship with Massenet as well; the critic Rodney Milnes describes Arbell as "gold-digging", charging that her blatant exploitation of the composer's honourable affections caused his wife considerable distress and even strained Massenet's devotion (or infatuation as Milnes characterises it). After the composer's death in 1912, Arbell pursued his widow and publishers through the law courts, seeking to secure a monopoly of the leading roles in several of his late operas. As a singer she is described as having a strong, vibrant 'mezzo-contralto' and a vivacious personality. She may have been a talented actor, but her voice was considered by some critics to be mediocre; the roles created for her included extensive passages of declamation, something not usually seen in the operas of the period. At the Opéra-Comique she sang Charlotte ('' Werther'') up to the 1920s, but largely fell into oblivion after Massenet's death in 1912.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbell, Lucy 1870s births 1947 deaths People from Le Vésinet French operatic mezzo-sopranos Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 20th-century French women opera singers