Marie Fel (24 October 1713 – 2 February 1794) was a French opera singer and a daughter of the organist Henri Fel. Marie Fel was born at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. She made her debut at the

Paris Opera 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 1733 and sang regularly at the

Concert Spirituel The Concert Spirituel () was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts with the same name occurred in multiple places including Paris, Vienna ...

. In a career that lasted 35 years, she sang in all the operas of Rameau along with

Pierre Jélyotte Pierre Jélyotte (13 April 1713 – 11 September 1797) was a French operatic tenor, particularly associated with works by Rameau, Lully, Campra, Mondonville and Destouches. Life and career Born Pierre Grichon in Lasseube, he studied ...

, created roles in those of Mondonville, and participated in revivals of those of Lully and Campra. She retired from the stage in 1758, but continued to perform in concert until 1769. She died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She had a long-term relationship with the painter Quentin de La Tour, who painted her portrait. "The greatest personalities of her age sought her good graces and gave her lively proofs of their affections," including men of letters such as the Baron von Grimm and the Encyclopédiste Louis de Cahusac.Emile Campardon, L’Académie Royale de Musique au XVIII Siècle: Documents inédites découverts aux Archives Nationales (Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1884), I:37 The French actress and singer Sophie Arnould was one of her students.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fel, Marie French operatic sopranos 18th-century French women opera singers Musicians from Bordeaux 1713 births 1794 deaths