Cruvelli, Sophie |
| OPERA SINGER, COMPOSER (GERMANY) |
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BORN 12 Mar 1826, Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen - DIED 6 Nov 1907, Monte Carlo, Monaco: Hotel de Paris BIRTH NAME Crüwell, Sophie Johanne Charlotte GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 38, avenue des Acacias, ligne 01 (Moiroux: M 33)) |
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The soprano Sophie Crüwell was the daughter of a wealthy tobacco manufacturer from Bielefeld. Sophie and her sister, the mezzo-soprano Maria Crüwell (1824-1869), studied with Louis Spohr in Kassel. In 1844 they continued their studies in Paris, where Francesco Piermarini and Marco Bordogni were their teachers. On advice of Bordogni she went to Milan, where Francesco Lamperti was her teacher. It was written that she was one of the young women who followed Franz Liszt from city to city, but their is no evidence of a friendship with Liszt. She debuted in Venice in Verdi's "Ernani". In 1847 she appeared in Udine and in Rovigo. There she was heard by Benjamin Lumley and he contracted her for the 1848 season at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. On 19 February she debuted there as Elvira in Verdi's "Ernani". She appeared next to Jenny Lind in Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro". Next, she appeared in Berlin and in Trieste. At the end of 1849 she appeared in La Scala in Milan and at La Fenice in Venice. Around 1850 she was the lover of the married opera singer Agardi Metrovich. Lumley engaged her at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris in 1851. On 20 May 1851 she was very successful in Beethoven's "Fidelio" at her Majesty's Theatre. She suddenly disappeared from London and she re-appeared at the Théatre-Italien where she was a favourite of Napoleon III. In 1854 the Opera of Paris offered her a contract for a salary of 100,000 francs, a sum that had never been paid before to a prima donna. In the same year she sang at Covent Garden during her holidays. She was offered the title role in Gounod's "La Nonne sanglante", but she declined the part and it was given to Palmyre Wertheimber. Achille Fould involved himself in her affairs and might have made a move on her in his office. When Sophie was to appear als Valentine in "Les Huguenots" in Paris on 9 October she disappeared, taking some compromising letters from Fould with her. A month later she returned and sang the part on 13 November. At first there was hissing, but she was so good that she was soon forgiven. On 31 October 1855 she sang the role of Hélène at the premiere of Verdi's "Les vêpres Siciliennes". 50 more performances of this role followed. But on 16 December 1855 she bid farewell to the stage as Valentine. In January 1856 her contract at the Opera expired and she married Baron Vigier on 8 January 1856 and she retired from the stage at the top of her career. Nine months later her daughter Renée was born, but she died at the age of three. She also had a son, René, who was born in 1859. Sophie did not give up singing entirely and she appeared in benefit concerts at the Villa Vigier in Nice. She also composed music and in 1860 "L’ etoile que j’aime - paroles et musique de Sophie Cruvelli" was published. In 1881 she organized the first performance in France of Wagner's "Lohengrin" in France as a prvate benefit at the Cercle de la Méditerranée Salon and she sang the part of Elsa herself. In 1895 she met Queen Victoria again, after she had sung for her in the 1850s. She died in 1907 and was buried at Père Lachaise in Paris. Related persons • has a connection with Fould, Achille • was pupil of Spohr, Louis Events |
| 20/5/1851 | Sophie Cruvelli sings in "Fidelio" at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. She appeared there to much acclaim with Sims Reeves. After a few performances she was compared to Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient and Maria Malibran, who had sang the same role in "Fidelio" before her. |
| 7/6/1851 | Sophie Cruvelli sings at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria |
| 18/10/1854 | Premiere of Gounod's opera "La nonne sanglante" at the Salle Pelletier in Paris. The opera was performed eleven times in October and November 1854. It was poorly received and when opera director Nestor Roqueplan was replaced by François Crosnier the opera was cancelled immediately. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne and was a loose adaption of a scene from the novel "The Monk" by Matthew Lewis. Narcisse Girard was the conductor. Jean-Baptiste Merly played comte Ludorf and Jacques-Alfred Guignot was baron Moldaw. Louis Guéymard was Rudolf's son Rodolphe and Anne Poinsot was Angès. Palmyre Wertheimber was La nonne sanglante after Sophie Cruvelli had refused the title part. [Girard, Narcisse][Gounod, Charles][Roqueplan, Nestor][Scribe, Eugène] |
| 13/6/1855 | Premiere of Verdi's opera "Les Vêpres siciliennes" at the Opera in Paris. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier. Sophie Cruvelli was duchess Hélène. Other performers were Louis Gueymard, Marc Bonnehée and Louis-Henri Obin. [Scribe, Eugène][Verdi, Giuseppe] |
| 21/3/1881 | First performance of Richard Wagners's "Lohengrin" in France. It was staged by the former opera singer Sophie Cruvelli for as a private benefit performance at the Salle des Fêtes of the Cercle de la Méditerranée. Cruvelli sang the part of Elsa herself and this attracted a lot of attention. It was sung in Italian and Auguste-Charles-Léonard-François Vianesi was the conductor. The event raised the considerable sum of 30,000 frans. [Wagner, Richard] |
| Images | |
 Sophie Cruvelli was buried in the Vigier mausoleum at the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Paris. Picture by Androom (08 Feb 2025) |
 Sophie Cruvelli was buried in the Vigier mausoleum at the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Paris. Picture by Androom (08 Feb 2025) |
