Born Magdeleine Sophie Arnould, she studied in Paris with Marie Fel and La Clairon, and made her stage debut at the Opéra de Paris on 15 December 1757 and sang there for 20 years.
According to her contemporaries, her voice was more beautiful than powerful, but she was a passionate actress. Her lack of discipline in both her professional and personal life led to a premature vocal decline. However, she was able to retire in 1778 with an enviable pension of 2000 pounds (livres).
She was much in demand in Parisian society, and legend has it that Madame de Pompadour told her "With such talents, you could become a Princess". She was painted by Maurice Quentin de La Tour, and left her Souvenirs and an abundant correspondence.
Opera by Piernéedit
French composer Gabriel Pierné wrote an opera based on her tumultuous life entitled Sophie Arnould (1927).
sophie, arnould, february, 1740, paris, france, october, 1802, paris, france, french, operatic, soprano, portrait, lady, called, jean, baptiste, greuze, 1773bornmagdeleine, 1740, february, 1740paris, francedied18, october, 1802, 1802, aged, paris, francenation. Sophie Arnould 13 February 1740 in Paris France 18 October 1802 in Paris France was a French operatic soprano Sophie ArnouldPortrait of a Lady called Sophie Arnould by Jean Baptiste Greuze c 1773BornMagdeleine Sophie Arnould 1740 02 13 13 February 1740Paris FranceDied18 October 1802 1802 10 18 aged 62 Paris FranceNationalityFrenchOccupationSingerChildren4 Contents 1 Biography 2 Opera by Pierne 3 Notes 4 ReferencesBiography editBorn Magdeleine Sophie Arnould she studied in Paris with Marie Fel and La Clairon and made her stage debut at the Opera de Paris on 15 December 1757 and sang there for 20 years She created for Christoph Wilibald Gluck the roles of Eurydice in Orphee et Eurydice and the title role in Iphigenie en Aulide She also obtained considerable success in operas by Jean Philippe Rameau Francois Francoeur and Pierre Alexandre Monsigny Her love life was extremely colorful Her tumultuous relationship with Louis Leon de Brancas duc de Lauragais resulted in four children including Antoine Constant de Brancas fr colonel of the First Empire who died at Essling 1 She was also the lover of Paul Barras and Nicolas Francois de Neufchateau among many others 2 In fact she was notorious for having as many affairs with women as with men notably Fanny Raucourt Mme de Villeroy and the Princess of Henin 3 According to her contemporaries her voice was more beautiful than powerful but she was a passionate actress Her lack of discipline in both her professional and personal life led to a premature vocal decline However she was able to retire in 1778 with an enviable pension of 2000 pounds livres She was much in demand in Parisian society and legend has it that Madame de Pompadour told her With such talents you could become a Princess She was painted by Maurice Quentin de La Tour and left her Souvenirs and an abundant correspondence Opera by Pierne editFrench composer Gabriel Pierne wrote an opera based on her tumultuous life entitled Sophie Arnould 1927 Notes edit Roglo ad nomen Jean Haechler Le regne des femmes 1715 1792 Paris Grasset 2001 ISBN 978 2 246 61529 3 Michel Lariviere Dictionnaire historique des homosexuel le s celebres Paris La Musardine 2017 pp 30 31 ISBN 978 2 36490 810 9 References editLe guide de l opera les indispensables de la musique R Mancini amp J J Rouvereux Fayard 1986 ISBN 2 213 01563 5 Francis Rogers The Musical Quarterly Vol 6 No 1 Jan 1920 pp 57 61 nbsp This article about a French opera singer is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sophie Arnould amp oldid 1211998336, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
