Rose Renaud
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Rose Renaud | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Renaud by Charles Monnet c. 1792 | |
| Born | 1767 Paris, France |
| Died | c. 1840 |
| Other names | Mademoiselle Renaud l'aînée |
| Occupation | Opera singer (soprano) |
Rose Renaud (1767 – c. 1840)[1] was a French coloratura soprano active at the Théâtre-Italien from 1785 to 1793. She was known for the purity and agility of her voice and her attractive stage presence.[2] Renaud was born in Paris and made her debut in a concert there in 1781 at the age of 14. She retired from the stage in 1793. Her younger sister, Sophie Renaud, was also a soprano at the Théâtre-Italien. In at least two sources (Fétis and Kutsch and Riemens), Rose is referred to as "Mademoiselle Renaud l'aînée" (Mademoiselle Renaud the elder) to distinguish her from Sophie. However, other sources (notably Pougin and Campardon) have posited that Rose and Sophie were in fact the younger sisters of a third singer known as "Mademoiselle Renaud l'aînée" who also sang at the Théâtre-Italien suggesting that aspects of Rose Renaud's biography and iconography and that of her elder sister may have been conflated in some of the existing sources.
Rose Renaud's entries in both Fétis and Kutsch and Riemens state that she was born in Paris and was trained as a singer by the composer and voice teacher Louis-Augustin Richer. She made her debut in 1781 while still a student singing arias by Antonio Sacchini, Gian Francesco de Majo and Henri-Montan Berton in a performance at the Concerts Spirituels. Her stage debut in May 1785 as Lucette in André Grétry's La fausse magie at the Théâtre-Italien caused a sensation. She went on to a series of successes at the theatre, becoming its première chanteuse à roulades.[a] Amongst the roles she created during her time there were Célimène in Dalayrac's L'amant statue (1785) and Marie in Grétry's Guillaume Tell (1791).[3][2] Thomas Jefferson saw "Mademoiselle Renaud" in Piccinni's opera Pénélope in Paris in 1785 and wrote to Abigail Adams that she "sings as no body ever sung before. She is far beyond Madame Mara."[b][5]
According to Fétis, Renaud married the poet and librettist Charles-Joseph Loeillard d'Avrigny in 1792 and retired from the stage the following year. Rose's younger sister Sophie likewise became a favourite with the Théâtre-Italien's audiences. Both Rose and Sophie sang there in the 1790 premiere of Méhul's opera, Euphrosine—Rose as Léonore and Sophie as Louise.[6] Sophie continued to sing at the theatre until 1793 when she also retired from the stage.[2]
