Falcon, Cornélie (1814 - 1897)

French dramatic soprano (Falcon soprano)

Cornélie Falcon as Rachel in La Juive from Halévy (Motisi collection)

Marie-Cornélie Falcon made her debut at the age of 18, on July 20, 1832 at the Paris Opera as Alice in Giacomo Meyerbeer 's Robert le Diable, with immediate success.

She was a pupil of the famous tenor Adolphe Nourrit, with whom she created the role of Rachel in La Juive de Halévy.

Her dazzling career lasted just six years, but the Falcon became a legend: she gave her name to a vocal category still in use today, a dramatic soprano halfway between soprano and mezzo. Jessye Norman, Grace Bumbry and Ana Caterina Antonacci are all known as "Falcon sopranos".

Falcon performed with great success the roles of Julia in Spontini's La Vestale, Mathilde in Guillaume Tell and the Countess in Le Comte Ory by Rossini. She also created Amélie in Auber's Gustave III (1832) and Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Juan in the French version by Émile Deschamps and Castil-Blaze (1834), but her two greatest creations were Rachel in Halévy 's La Juive (1835) and Valentine in Les Huguenots by Meyerbeer(1836), conceived specifically for her voice by Composers.

In November 1836, at the age of twenty-two, she played La Esmeralda in the opera by composer Louise Bertin. In 1837, she premiered Louis Niedermeyer's Stradella. At the second performance, she fainted on stage. Inexplicably, she had lost her voice, which she would never regain.

Discover the artist's world through various documents: each image opens the door to one of his interpretations, his portraits in civilian clothes, his autographs or press articles about him from the period