Marie Louise Marcadet
Encyclopedia
Marie Louise Marcadet (1758–1804) was a Swedish
opera singer and a dramatic stage actor. She was active in both the Royal Swedish Opera
, and at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
. She is regarded as the greatest tragedienne in Sweden during the 1780s decade, before the first noted native tragedienne, Maria Franck
. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
from 1795.
and at the court theatre at Drottningholm
of Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia
; Jacques Anselme Baptiste and the prima donna Marie Baptiste
, and of French descent. In 1780 she married a dancer from her parents home country, Jean-Rémy Marcadet (b.1755) http://cesar.org.uk/cesar2/books/campardon/view.php?volume=2&index=108, premierdancer and instructor of ballet at the Royal Swedish Ballet
and was thereby known as Madame Marcadet.
When the French Theatre was dissolved in 1771, Marie Louise left Sweden with her parents and followed them touring in Europe; they returned to Sweden in 1776 and performed in a French Court Theatre at the Swedish court in 1776-81. She debuted at the Opera-theater in Bollhuset
in Les deux avares
, an opéra bouffon
by Grétry in the 1777–1778 season and was later the same year acclaimed in Lucile
by the same composer. From this year, she was employed at the Royal Swedish Opera
as an opera singer.
She was also a dramatic actress; from 1781, she was a part of the French dramatic theatre of Monvel in Bollhuset, and from 1788, she was employed at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
. When the director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre left the country in 1788 to escape his creditors, the actors ruled the theatre themselves by votes, and she became a member of the board of directors. This rule was considered quite Chaotic, but Marcadets judgement was praised.
Together with Jaques Marie Boutet de Monvel and the couple Desguillons, she was the greatest contributor responsible for the fact that the Swedish national theatre and opera was formed after a French pattern.
considered her acting divine, Gjörwell wrote: "The entire soul was created for the Theater" after having seen her in the opéra comique
Zémire et Azor
by Grétry opposite Carl Stenborg (season 1778-1779), and she was mentioned by Carl von Fersen as an example of the meaning of education in his book The Improvement of the Swedish Opera and entertainment, written in 1780
As an opera singer, her voice is described as, in reality, nothing more than a normally good operatic voice, but she handled it so well that she became a very good opera singer. She was, however, considered to be best as a dramatic actor in speaking drama, were her hard French accent gave her lines power and energy, and she was recommended for its passioned strength. Among her most admired parts, from both her operatic and her dramatic career, was Clytaimnestra, Merope by Voltaire
, Jocasta in Oedipe by Adlerbeth, Statira in Olympie by Johan Henric Kellgren
, Athalie by Racine
and countess Walltron in Der Graf von Walltron by Heinrich Ferdinand Möller.
She played Henriette in Les deux avares (season 1777-1778), Arséne in the opera La belle Arsène by Monsigny
(with Elisabeth Olin
and Christoffer Christian Karsten
) and Iphigenie in Iphigénie en Aulide
by Gluck
(with Carl Stenborg
), 1779–1780, Cybèle in Atys
by Piccinni
(with Carl Stenborg and Kristofer Kristian Karsten), 1784–1785, Hermione in Andromaque by Grétry (with Franziska Stading
), Cecilia av Eka
in Gustaf Wasa by Johann Gottlieb Naumann
(with Carl Stenborg, Kristofer Kristian Karsten and Caroline Halle-Müller), 1785–1786, Ramfrid in Folke Birgersson till Ringstad by Gustav III
(with Kristofer Kristian Karsten and Inga Åberg
), 1792–1793, and Minerva in Alcides inträde i världen (The arrival of Alcide in the world) by Haeffner, 1793-1794.
, were she made her farewell-performance in November before she left Sweden with her husband and moved to Paris
in France
, where she died. She is one of many examples of the French actors and singers, who made themselves a career in Sweden during the 18th century, when Swedish theatre and opera was more or less entirely French.
In the 19th century, the Swedish press pointed out the irony in the fact that three of the most popular singers, who were a part of the "first generation" of performers in the two national stages Royal Dramatic Theatre
and Royal Swedish Opera
, was in fact foreigners; the German
Franziska Stading, the Polish
Sophie Stebnowska (grandmother of Marie Taglioni
), and the French
Marie Louise Marcadet.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
opera singer and a dramatic stage actor. She was active in both the Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera
Kungliga Operan is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.-Location and Environment:...
, and at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
. She is regarded as the greatest tragedienne in Sweden during the 1780s decade, before the first noted native tragedienne, Maria Franck
Maria Franck
Maria Kristina Franck, later Ruckman, , was a Swedish actor, also known as Kristina Ruckman, who later also became principal of the theatre school Dramatens elevskola...
. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
Royal Swedish Academy of Music
The Royal Swedish Academy of Music or Kungl. Musikaliska Akademien, founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden...
from 1795.
Background and career
Marcadet was born in Sweden as the daughter of two actors of the French Theatre of BollhusetBollhuset
Bollhuset, also called ', ', and ' at various times, was the name of the first theater in Stockholm, Sweden; it was the first Swedish theater and the first real theater building in the whole of Scandinavia. The name "" means "The Ball House", and it was built in 1627 for ball sports and used in...
and at the court theatre at Drottningholm
Drottningholm
Drottningholm, literally "Queen's Islet", is a locality situated in Ekerö Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden, with 410 inhabitants in 2005....
of Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia
Louisa Ulrika of Prussia
Louisa Ulrika of Prussia was Queen of Sweden between 1751 and 1771 as the spouse of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden, and queen mother during the reign of King Gustav III of Sweden.-Background:...
; Jacques Anselme Baptiste and the prima donna Marie Baptiste
Marie Baptiste
Marie Baptiste née Dumont, , also known as Mademoiselle le Prévost , was a French actor and singer...
, and of French descent. In 1780 she married a dancer from her parents home country, Jean-Rémy Marcadet (b.1755) http://cesar.org.uk/cesar2/books/campardon/view.php?volume=2&index=108, premierdancer and instructor of ballet at the Royal Swedish Ballet
Royal Swedish Ballet
The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian dominance in this field; he also founded the Royal Swedish Opera and the...
and was thereby known as Madame Marcadet.
When the French Theatre was dissolved in 1771, Marie Louise left Sweden with her parents and followed them touring in Europe; they returned to Sweden in 1776 and performed in a French Court Theatre at the Swedish court in 1776-81. She debuted at the Opera-theater in Bollhuset
Bollhuset
Bollhuset, also called ', ', and ' at various times, was the name of the first theater in Stockholm, Sweden; it was the first Swedish theater and the first real theater building in the whole of Scandinavia. The name "" means "The Ball House", and it was built in 1627 for ball sports and used in...
in Les deux avares
Les deux avares
Les deux avares , is an opéra bouffon in two acts written by André Grétry at age 27 in 1770 to a French libretto by Fenouillot de Falbaire and German version by Herbert Trantow.- Roles :...
, an opéra bouffon
Opéra bouffon
Opéra bouffon is the French term for the Italian genre of opera called opera buffa performed in 18th-century France, either in the original language or in French translation...
by Grétry in the 1777–1778 season and was later the same year acclaimed in Lucile
Lucile (opera)
Lucile is an opéra comique, described as a comédie mêlée d'ariettes, in one act by the Belgian composer André Grétry, The French text was by Jean-François Marmontel, and the characters in the opera, though not the actual story, were derived from Marmontel's L'école des pères...
by the same composer. From this year, she was employed at the Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera
Kungliga Operan is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.-Location and Environment:...
as an opera singer.
She was also a dramatic actress; from 1781, she was a part of the French dramatic theatre of Monvel in Bollhuset, and from 1788, she was employed at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
. When the director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre left the country in 1788 to escape his creditors, the actors ruled the theatre themselves by votes, and she became a member of the board of directors. This rule was considered quite Chaotic, but Marcadets judgement was praised.
Together with Jaques Marie Boutet de Monvel and the couple Desguillons, she was the greatest contributor responsible for the fact that the Swedish national theatre and opera was formed after a French pattern.
Estimation and parts
Marie Louise Marcadet was not considered beautiful, but she was described as a splendid actor, and also as a competent singer. Johan Henric KellgrenJohan Henric Kellgren
Johan Henrik Kellgren was a Swedish poet and critic.-Biography:He was born at Floby in Västergötland...
considered her acting divine, Gjörwell wrote: "The entire soul was created for the Theater" after having seen her in the opéra comique
Opéra comique
Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
Zémire et Azor
Zémire et Azor
Zémire et Azor is an opéra comique, described as a comédie-ballet mêlée de chants et de danses, in four acts by the Belgian composer André Grétry, The French text was by Jean François Marmontel based on La Belle et la bête by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, and Amour pour amour by P. C....
by Grétry opposite Carl Stenborg (season 1778-1779), and she was mentioned by Carl von Fersen as an example of the meaning of education in his book The Improvement of the Swedish Opera and entertainment, written in 1780
As an opera singer, her voice is described as, in reality, nothing more than a normally good operatic voice, but she handled it so well that she became a very good opera singer. She was, however, considered to be best as a dramatic actor in speaking drama, were her hard French accent gave her lines power and energy, and she was recommended for its passioned strength. Among her most admired parts, from both her operatic and her dramatic career, was Clytaimnestra, Merope by Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, Jocasta in Oedipe by Adlerbeth, Statira in Olympie by Johan Henric Kellgren
Johan Henric Kellgren
Johan Henrik Kellgren was a Swedish poet and critic.-Biography:He was born at Floby in Västergötland...
, Athalie by Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
and countess Walltron in Der Graf von Walltron by Heinrich Ferdinand Möller.
She played Henriette in Les deux avares (season 1777-1778), Arséne in the opera La belle Arsène by Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny was a French composer and a member of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts .He is considered alongside André Grétry and François-André Danican Philidor to have been the founder of a new musical genre, the opéra comique, laying a path for other French composers such as...
(with Elisabeth Olin
Elisabeth Olin
Elisabeth Olin was a Swedish opera singer and a music composer. She is referred to as the first Swedish Opera prima donna. She was a court-singer . She was the first female member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music...
and Christoffer Christian Karsten
Christoffer Christian Karsten
Christoffer Christian Karsten was a Swedish opera singer, sometimes called the greatest male opera singer in Swedish history...
) and Iphigenie in Iphigénie en Aulide
Iphigénie en Aulide
Iphigénie en Aulide is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by Leblanc du Roullet and was based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie...
by Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
(with Carl Stenborg
Carl Stenborg
Carl Stenborg was a Swedish opera singer, actor, composer and theatre director. He is considered the first great male opera singer in Sweden and one of the pioneers of the Royal Swedish Opera.- Biography :...
), 1779–1780, Cybèle in Atys
Atys (Piccinni)
Atys is a tragédie lyrique in three acts by Niccolò Piccinni with a French libretto by Jean-François Marmontel. Marmontel's libretto was based upon Philippe Quinault's libretto for Jean-Baptiste Lully's 1676 opera of the same title. Quinault based his rendition on Ovid's Fasti. Marmontel adapted...
by Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure, even to music lovers today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day...
(with Carl Stenborg and Kristofer Kristian Karsten), 1784–1785, Hermione in Andromaque by Grétry (with Franziska Stading
Franziska Stading
Sofia "Franziska" Stading was a opera singer and actor; originally from Germany, she became one of the most popular stars in Sweden in the 18th century...
), Cecilia av Eka
Cecilia Månsdotter
Cecilia Månsdotter Eka , also called Cecilia of Eka, was a Swedish noblewoman. She was the spouse of Erik Johansson Vasa and mother of King Gustav I of Sweden.- Biography :...
in Gustaf Wasa by Johann Gottlieb Naumann
Johann Gottlieb Naumann
Johann Gottlieb Naumann was a German composer, conductor, and Kapellmeister.- Life :...
(with Carl Stenborg, Kristofer Kristian Karsten and Caroline Halle-Müller), 1785–1786, Ramfrid in Folke Birgersson till Ringstad by Gustav III
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....
(with Kristofer Kristian Karsten and Inga Åberg
Inga Åberg
Inga Åberg was a Swedish actress and opera singer, one of the most popular and well known actors of her time in Sweden...
), 1792–1793, and Minerva in Alcides inträde i världen (The arrival of Alcide in the world) by Haeffner, 1793-1794.
Later life
In 1795, Marcadet became involved in a conflict with the direction at the royal theaters (meaning borth the opera and the theatre) and joined the Stenborg theatreStenborg Theatre
The Stenborg theatre, also called Svenska Komiska Teatern, Komiska Teatern and Munkbroteatern, was a historical Swedish 18th century theatre, active between 1784 and 1799 in Gamla stan in Stockholm. It was the second theatre of Stockholm during the Gustavian age...
, were she made her farewell-performance in November before she left Sweden with her husband and moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in France
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...
, where she died. She is one of many examples of the French actors and singers, who made themselves a career in Sweden during the 18th century, when Swedish theatre and opera was more or less entirely French.
In the 19th century, the Swedish press pointed out the irony in the fact that three of the most popular singers, who were a part of the "first generation" of performers in the two national stages Royal Dramatic Theatre
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
and Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera
Kungliga Operan is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.-Location and Environment:...
, was in fact foreigners; the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Franziska Stading, the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Sophie Stebnowska (grandmother of Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni was a famous Italian/Swedish ballerina of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance.-Biography:...
), and the French
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...
Marie Louise Marcadet.