Marie Le Rochois
Encyclopedia
Marie Le Rochois was a French
opera
tic soprano
who belonged to the Académie Royale de Musique
. She is often referred to as Marthe Le Rochois or simply La Rochois.
, possibly by his father-in-law Michel Lambert
who may have been her teacher, and became a member of the Paris Opéra
in 1678. She sang in operas by Lully, Pascal Collasse
, Henri Desmarets
, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
, André Campra
, Marin Marais
, and André Cardinal Destouches
but she was best regarded for her portrayal of Armide
in Lully's opera.
Unlike some of her wilder colleagues at the opera, Julie d'Aubigny
and Fanchon Moreau
, she enjoyed a reputation for moral rectitude. Less of a celebrity, she was more of an artist, as indicated by the number of important roles with which she was entrusted by Lully and his successors.
. She died in Paris in 1728.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
who belonged to the Académie Royale de Musique
Académie Royale de Musique
The Salle Le Peletier was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and constructed by the architect François Debret on the site of the former Hôtel de Choiseul...
. She is often referred to as Marthe Le Rochois or simply La Rochois.
Opera career
She was introduced to Jean-Baptiste LullyJean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
, possibly by his father-in-law Michel Lambert
Michel Lambert
Michel Lambert was a French singing master, theorbist and composer.Lambert was born at Champigny-sur-Veude, France. He received his musical education as an altar boy at the Chapel of Gaston d'Orléans. He studied also with Pierre de Nyert in Paris. Since 1636, he was known as a singing teacher...
who may have been her teacher, and became a member of the Paris Opéra
Académie Royale de Musique
The Salle Le Peletier was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and constructed by the architect François Debret on the site of the former Hôtel de Choiseul...
in 1678. She sang in operas by Lully, Pascal Collasse
Pascal Collasse
Pascal Collasse was a French composer of the Baroque era. Born in Rheims, Collasse became a disciple of Jean-Baptiste Lully during the latter's domination of the French operatic stage...
, Henri Desmarets
Henri Desmarets
Henri Desmarets was a French composer of the Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumental works....
, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
, André Campra
André Campra
André Campra was a French composer and conductor.Campra was one of the leading French opera composers in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He wrote several tragédies en musique, but his chief claim to fame is as the creator of a new genre, opéra-ballet...
, Marin Marais
Marin Marais
Marin Marais was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for 6 months. He was hired as a musician in 1676 to the royal court of Versailles...
, and André Cardinal Destouches
André Cardinal Destouches
André Cardinal Destouches was a French composer best known for the opéra-ballet Les élémens....
but she was best regarded for her portrayal of Armide
Armide (Lully)
Armide is an opera by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The libretto was written by Philippe Quinault, based on Torquato Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata .Critics in the 18th century regarded Armide as Lully's masterpiece...
in Lully's opera.
Unlike some of her wilder colleagues at the opera, Julie d'Aubigny
Julie d'Aubigny
Julie d'Aubigny , better known as Mademoiselle Maupin or La Maupin, was a 17th-century swordswoman and opera singer. Her tumultuous career and flamboyant life were the subject of gossip and colorful stories in her own time, and inspired romances and novels afterwards...
and Fanchon Moreau
Fanchon Moreau
Françoise 'Fanchon' Moreau was a French operatic soprano who belonged to the Académie Royale de Musique, also a celebrated beauty who was a favourite of the Great Dauphin.-Opera career:...
, she enjoyed a reputation for moral rectitude. Less of a celebrity, she was more of an artist, as indicated by the number of important roles with which she was entrusted by Lully and his successors.
Retirement
After retiring from the stage in 1698 she became a teacher, while remaining active in the contemporary arts social world. Her students included Marie Antier and Françoise JournetFrançoise Journet
Françoise Journet was a French operatic soprano.Beginning her career at the Lyon Opera, Journet eventually became a pupil of Marie Le Rochois in Paris. In 1699 she appeared as Mélisse in the premiere of Amadis de Gréce by Destouches and subsequently created a number of important roles in operas by...
. She died in Paris in 1728.
Roles created
- Arethusa in Lully's ProserpineProserpine (Lully)Proserpine is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault first performed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 3 February 1680.-Roles:-Synopsis:...
(Paris, 1680) - Merope in Lully's PerséePerséePersée is a tragédie lyrique with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault, first performed in 1682 at the Paris Opéra.-Roles:-Synopsis:...
(Paris, 1682) - Arcabonne in Lully's AmadisAmadis (Lully)Amadis or Amadis de Gaule is a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully to a libretto by Philippe Quinault based on Nicolas Herberay des Essarts' adaptation of Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo's Amadis de Gaula. It was premiered at the Paris Opéra January 18, 1684...
(Paris, 1684) - Angéligue in Lully's RolandRoland (Lully)Roland is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault first performed at Versailles on January 8, 1685. The story is derived from Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso...
(Paris, 1684) - Armide in Lully's ArmideArmide (Lully)Armide is an opera by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The libretto was written by Philippe Quinault, based on Torquato Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata .Critics in the 18th century regarded Armide as Lully's masterpiece...
(Paris, 1686) - Galatée in Acis et GalatéeAcis et GalatéeAcis et Galatée is an opera by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Unlike most of his operas, which are designated tragédies en musique, Lully called this work a pastorale-héroïque, because it was on a pastoral theme and had only three acts compared to the usual five...
(Paris, 1686) - Polixène in the Lully-Collasse Achille et PolyxèneAchille et PolyxèneAchille et Polyxène is a tragédie lyrique containing a prologue and five acts based on Virgil's Aeneid with a French libretto by Jean Galbert de Campistron. The opera's overture and first act were composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, who died from a conducting injury before he could complete the score...
(Paris, 1687) - Thétis in Collasse's Thétis et Pélée (Paris, 1689)
- Lavinie in Collasse's Enée et Lavinie (Paris, 1690)
- The title role in Desmarets's DidonDidon (Desmarets)Didon is a tragédie en musique or opera in 1 prologue and 5 Acts by composer Henri Desmarets. The work uses a French language libretto by Louise-Geneviève Gillot de Saintonge...
(Paris, 1693) - The title role in Charpentier's MédéeMédée (Charpentier)Médée is a tragédie mise en musique in five acts and a prologue by Marc-Antoine Charpentier to a French libretto by Thomas Corneille. It was premiered in Paris on December 4, 1693. Médée is the only opera Charpentier wrote for the Académie Royale de Musique...
(Paris, 1693) - Ariane in Marin Marais's Ariane et Bacchus (Paris, 1696)
- Vénus in Desmarets's Vénus et AdonisVénus et AdonisVénus et Adonis is an opera in a prologue and 5 acts composed by Henri Desmarets to a libretto by Jean-Baptiste Rousseau. Based on the story of Venus and Adonis in Book X of Ovid's Metamorphoses, it was first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on 28 July 1697 with Marie Le...
(Paris, 1697) - The title role in DestouchesAndré Cardinal DestouchesAndré Cardinal Destouches was a French composer best known for the opéra-ballet Les élémens....
's IsséIssé (opera)Issé is a operatic pastorale héroïque by the French composer André Cardinal Destouches. It has a prologue and three acts. The libretto was by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.-Performance history:...
(Paris, 1697) - Roxane in Campra's L'Europe galanteL'Europe galanteL'Europe galante is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and four entrées by André Campra, The French text was by Antoine Houdar de la Motte....
(Paris, 1697)
Sources
- Anthony, James R (1992), 'Le Rochois, Marie' in The New Grove Dictionary of OperaNew Grove Dictionary of OperaThe New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7