his unsuccessful _début_ at the Comédie-Française, 146;
goes with his daughter to Spain, 146;
accompanies her to Paris, 147;
a jealous guardian of her honour, 154;
utters terrible threats against Voltaire, 157
Raucourt, Mlle., birth and parentage, 145 note, 146;
goes to Spain with a French troupe, 146;
plays at Rouen, 146;
comes to Paris with her father, 147;
studies under Brizard and Mlle. Clairon, 147 and note;
astonishing success of her _début_ in
Le Franc de Pompignan’s _Didon_, 148, 149;
her talent greatly overrated, 150;
becomes the idol of the town, 150, 151;
plays before the Court at Versailles, 151;
presented by Madame du Barry with a _robe de théâtre_, 151;
frantic enthusiasm evoked by her acting, 152;
a cabal formed against her at the Comédie-Française, 152, 153;
her popularity enhanced by her reputation for virtue, 154-156;
her reputation attacked by Voltaire, 156-158;
his verses to her, 158;
her _galanterie_ with the Duc d’Aiguillon, 159;
becomes the acknowledged mistress of the Marquis de Bièvre, 159;
leads a life of luxury and extravagance, 160;
her _liaison_ with the Marquis de Villette, 160;
“astonishes Court and town by her irregularities,” 161;
loses her popularity, 161;
hissed when playing Hermione in _Andromaque_, 162;
accused of shameful vices, 162 and note, 163;
her success as the Statue in _Pygmalion_, 163;
intrigues against her at the theatre, 163;
swoons after meeting with a hostile reception in _Britannicus_, 164;
persecuted by her creditors, 164;
flies from Paris and goes into hiding, 164;
expelled from the Comédie-Française, 165;
her adventures with Madame Souck, 165, 166;
arrested, 166;
released through the intervention of the Prince de Ligne, 166, 167;
leaves France, 167;
recalled to Paris, 170;
befriended by Sophie Arnould, 170, 171;
reappears at the Comédie-Française in _Didon_, 171, 172;
meets with a violently hostile reception, 172;
disgracefully treated on her appearance in _Phèdre_, 172, 173;
declines to bow to the storm, 174;
her letter to the _Journal de Paris_, 175;
attacked in _La Vision du prophète Daniel_, 176, 177;
commits “an act of frightful ingratitude,” 177;
still in financial difficulties, 178;
her play _Henriette_ produced at the Comédie-Française, 178-181;
her success in a masculine part in _Le Jaloux_, 181;
regaining her popularity, 181, 182;
sympathises with the Royal Family in the Revolution, 183;
arrested and imprisoned in Saint-Pélagie, 183;
saved from the guillotine by Labussière, 184-186;
takes the Théâtre de Louvois, 187;
her success in Legouvé’s _Laurence_, 187;
her theatre closed by the Directory, 188;
takes the Odéon, 188;
makes no secret of her monarchical sympathies, 189;
growing rich, 189, 190;
her “palace” in the Rue Royale, 190;
takes a French troupe to Italy, 190;
her last appearance, 190;
her death, 190;
scandalous scenes at her funeral, 190-193
_Renaud_, Sacchini’s, 289
Richelieu, Maréchal de, 156, 157
Rochefort, Comte de, enriches Mlle. Guimard’s jewel-case, 108
_Roland_, Piccini’s, 283
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 163, 321
S
Sageret (theatrical manager) induces the members of
the Comédie-Française to migrate to the Théâtre-Feydeau, 187;
brings the expelled members of the
Théâtre de la République to the same theatre, 188;
takes over the Odéon from Mlle. Raucourt, 188;
goes bankrupt and disappears, 189
Sacchini, Madame Saint-Huberty’s success in his _Renaud_, 289;
and in his _Chimène_, 308;
Lemoine’s _Phèdre_ given precedence over his _Œdipe à Colone_, 310;
his death, 310
Saint-Aubin (singer), object of a
violent fancy on the part of Madame Saint-Huberty, 312, 313
Saint-Aubin, Madame, 313
Saint-Huberty, Claude Croisilles de, visits Strasburg, 268;
persuades Antoinette Clavel to accompany him to Berlin, 269;
and to marry him, 269, 270;
ill-treats and deserts her, 270;
persuades her to rejoin him at Warsaw, 271;
arrested at Berlin and thrown into prison, 271;
his release procured by his wife, 272;
decamps from Warsaw with all her belongings, 272;
persuades her to rejoin him in Vienna, 274;
deserts her for the third time, 274;
appointed wardrobe-keeper at the Paris Opera, 276;
persecutes and robs his wife, 276;
her complaint to the Châtelet against him, 277;
his outrageous treatment of her, 278, 279;
lays claim to her professional
earnings through fictitious creditors, 279, 280;
his marriage with her dissolved, 281
Saint-Huberty, Madame, Gluck’s prediction concerning her, 265, 266;
her birth and parentage, 267;
her early years at Strasburg, 267;
Lemoine’s kindness to her, 267, 268;
meets Saint-Huberty, 268, 269;
accompanies him to Berlin, 269;
marries him, 270;
ill-treated and deserted by him, 270;
rejoins him at Warsaw, 271;
her success in _Zémor et Azor_, 271;
procures her husband’s release from prison, 272;
deserted and robbed by him, 272;
befriended by the Princess Lubomirska, 272;
obtains a separation from her husband in respect of property, 273;
rejoins him in Vienna, 274;
deserted by him for the third time, 274;
obtains an _ordre de début_ at the Paris Opera, 275;
receives lessons from Gluck, 274, 275 and note;
makes her _début_, 275;
persecuted and robbed by her husband, 276;
lodges a complaint against him before the Châtelet, 277, 278;
shamefully ill-treated by him, 278, 279;
her professional earnings claimed by him through fictitious creditors, 280;
obtains judgment in her favour, 280;
and a dissolution of her marriage, 281;
steadily making her way to the front, 281, 282;
becomes a permanent member of the Opera, 283;
her triumph as Angélique in Piccini’s _Roland_, 283, 284;
further successes, 284;
her efforts on behalf of Lemoine’s _Électre_, 285;
endeavours to promote the reform of theatrical costumes, 286;
her success in _Ariane dans l’Île de Naxos_, 287;
saved by Piccini from being expelled from the Opera, 287;
her success in Grétry’s _l’Embarras des richesses_, 288, 289;
and in Sacchini’s _Renaud_, 289;
her personal appearance, 289, 290;
“effects a well-nigh physical transformation on the stage,” 290;
her dispute with the authorities
of the Opera over her salary and privileges, 290-294;
all her demands conceded, 294;
sings her part in Piccini’s _Didon_ at Marmontel’s country-house, 297;
goes on a provincial tour, 297;
modesty not one of her failings, 298;
insists on a radical change in costume, 299, 300;
her brilliant triumph in _Didon_, 300-306;
extraordinary enthusiasm aroused by her in the provinces, 306;
her receptions at Marseilles, Toulouse, and Strasburg, 306-308;
fresh successes in Paris, 308, 309;
obtains precedence for Lemoine’s _Phèdre_
over the _Œdipe_ of Sacchini, 310, 311;
her character less agreeable than her talent, 311, 312;
her passion for the tenor Saint-Aubin, 312, 313;
her arrogance and capriciousness, 313-315;
goes to Strasburg without permission, 315;
encourages the younger members of the Opera in insubordination, 317-319;
her disputes with the administration over her costumes, 317-319;
her private life comparatively free from scandal, 319, 320;
her relations with the Comte d’Antraigues, 320-323;
her charming letter to him, 323, 324;
her health undermined by her exertions, 324, 325;
leaves Paris and joins the Comte d’Antraigues in Switzerland, 326;
secretly married to him, 326, 327;
bears him a son, 327;
acknowledged as his wife by the count, 328;
assists him to escape from Milan, 329;
receives the Order of Saint-Michel from the Comte de Provence, 329, 330;
and a pension from the Emperor of Austria, 330 note;
accompanies her husband to England, 330;
assassinated with him by their servant Lorenzo, 331-343;
“the greatest lyric _tragédienne_ whom France has ever possessed,” 343
Sainval, Mlle. the elder, intrigues against Mlle. Raucourt, 153;
her quarrel with Madame Vestris, 167, 168;
insults the Duc de Duras, 168, 169;
expelled from the Comédie-Française and exiled, 169;
indignation which her punishment arouses, 169;
received in the provinces with frantic enthusiasm, 169;
believed to be responsible for the hostile
demonstrations against Mlle. Raucourt, 174;
her _bon mot_ about Mlle. Raucourt, 181
Sainval, Mlle. the younger, takes the place
of Mlle. Raucourt at the Comédie-Française, 165;
adversely criticised, 165 note;
scene during her impersonation of Aménaïde in _Tancrède_, 169
Sedaine, 217
Salieri, his _Danaïdes_, 309
Sully, Duc de, Sophie Arnould’s _bon mot_ about him and Choiseul, 34
Soubise, Prince de, _amant en titre_ of Mlle. Guimard, 110;
his predilection for the ladies of the Opera, 110;
his liberality, 110;
gives Mlle. Guimard a New Year’s gift of 6000 livres, 114;
compels her to give La Borde his _congé_, 120, 121;
replaces her by Mlle. Zacharie, 129, 130;
the pensions which he allows her and other
_danseuses_ resigned by them, 130, 131
T
Talma sympathises with the Revolution, 182;
withdraws from the Comédie-Française and
founds the Théâtre de la République, 182;
joins the Théâtre-Feydeau on the closing of his own theatre, 188
Talma, Madame, 251
_Tancrède_, incident during a performance of, 169
Taravel (painter), 117
Terrai, Abbé, Sophie Arnould’s _bon mot_ about him, 34
V
Vallayer Coster, Madame, her portrait of Madame Saint-Huberty, 290
Vandreuil, Comte de (dancer), his wager with M. de Miromesnil, 230 note;
his efforts on behalf of the _Mariage de Figaro_, 230, 231, 232
Vestris, Auguste (dancer), 126
Vestris Gaetano (dancer), 61, 62
Vestris, Madame, disobliges Mlle. Clairon, 147 note;
organises a cabal against Mlle. Raucourt, 153;
her quarrel with Mlle. Sainval the elder, 167-170;
urges the reinstatement of Mlle. Raucourt at the Comédie-Française, 170;
attacked in _La Vision du prophète Daniel_, 176
_Vision du prophète Daniel, la_, satire on
Mlle. Raucourt and her friends, 176, 177
Vigée Lebrun, Madame (cited), 208, 220, 235
Voisenon, Abbé de, 41
Voltaire, a friend of Madame Arnould, 4;
his letter to Sophie Arnould, 5, 6;
visited by Lauraguais at Ferney, 35;
his pretended admiration of Lauraguais’s _Clytemnestre_, 35 note;
visits Sophie Arnould, 79;
Madame du Barry’s message to him, 121;
besmirches the spotless reputation of Mlle. Raucourt’s 156-158;
pours the balm of his flattery upon the wound he has inflicted, 158
W
Wallace Collection, the, 19
Walpole, Horace (cited), 44 note, 117 note
X
Ximenès, Marquis de, 157
Z
Zacharie, Mlle. (_danseuse_), replaces
Mlle. Guimard in the affections of the Prince de Soubise, 129, 130
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<tb<
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
protector at=> protector as {pg 29}
Duc de Choiseul-Praslin as Minister of Marine, in 1670=> Duc de
Choiseul-Praslin as Minister of Marine, in 1760 {pg 34}
Princesse de Beauveau=> Princesse de Beauvau {pg 157}
Marie Antoniette=> Marie Antoinette {pg 168}
which brough the Terror=> which brought the Terror {pg 186}
Notwishstanding the laxity=> Notwithstanding the laxity {pg 216}
that a Bouvelard=> that a Boulevard {pg 230, n.}
occurred on the Bouvelards=> occurred on the Boulevards {pg 230, n.}
Moniseur=> Monsieur {pg 246}
Hereux=> Heureux {pg 257}
Castil-Blaize=> Castil-Blaze {pg 304}
serait encor sauvage=> serait encore sauvage {pg 308}
Bouvelard Saint-Martin=> Boulevard Saint-Martin {pg 324}
had pentrated four inches=> had penetrated four inches {pg 342}
overcome by Beaumerchais’s=> overcome by Beaumarchais’s {pg 348}
has a narrow escape of his life, 128;=> has a narrow escape of her life,
128; {pg 352}
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[1] At the time when they wrote their monograph on the singer,
Sophie’s _Mémoires_ were in possession of the Goncourts; it is
uncertain where they now are.
[2] Here is her _acte de naissance_, which also disposes of
Castil-Blaze’s assertion that her real name was Anne Madeleine,
and that she had adopted that of Sophie “as being more sweet and
harmonious.”
“The year one thousand seven hundred and forty, 14th of February,
Magdeleine Sophie, daughter of Jean Arnould, here present, and of Rose
Marguerite Laurent, his wife, born yesterday, Rue Saint-Louis in this
parish, has been baptized.
“Godfather: Louis Le Vasseur, manager of the King’s farms, Rue
Coq-Héron, parish Saint-Eustache; godmother: Magdeleine Chevalier,
spinster, Rue du Mail, of the above-mentioned parish.”
[3] When the Opera-house was burned down in April 1763, a lady of the
Court asked Mlle. Arnould if she could give her any particulars about
CETTE _terrible incendie_. “All that I can tell you, Madame,”
replied Sophie, “is that _incendie_ is a masculine noun.”
[4] E. and J. de Goncourt, _Sophie Arnould_, p. 10.
[5] E. and J. de Goncourt, _Sophie Arnould_, p. 23.
[6] The song, it may be mentioned, began with the words, “_Charmant
amour_,” a not inappropriate omen, remarks the lady’s latest
biographer, Mr. Douglas, for one who was to become notorious for her
gallantries.
[7] The opera, or rather its libretto, was an old one, having been
first produced so far back as 1690, with music by Colasse, a pupil of
Lulli. Fontenelle, who lived to be nearly a hundred, was still alive
when Dauvergne informed him of his intention to write fresh music for
the opera. “Monsieur,” he replied, “you do me too much honour. It is
now well-nigh sixty years since that opera was first performed; it was
a failure, but I never heard that that was the fault of the composer.”
[8] The music was by one composer, Mondonville, the choirmaster of
the royal chapel at Versailles, but the three acts, which, as was not
infrequently the case at this period, had little or no connection
with one another, were by as many different pens; the first, entitled
_Vénus et Adonis_, being by Collet; the second, called _Bacchus et
Érigone_, by La Bruère; while the third, the title of which is not
given, was believed to be the work of the Abbé de Voisenon.
[9] Catherine Nicole Le Maure (1704-1783). She made her _début_ in
1724, in _l’Europe galante_, and at once took high rank as a singer.
To an admirable voice she joined unusual talent as an actress,
although she had received hardly any dramatic training. In 1743 she
was imprisoned in For l’Évêque, for having refused to sing when
ordered to do so, and, out of pique, quitted the stage, though she
consented to reappear for a few evenings during the festivities in
honour of the Dauphin’s first marriage in 1745.
[10] _Journal et Mémoires_, ii. 147.
[11] E. and J. de Goncourt, _Sophie Arnould_, p. 33.
[12] “As for my figure, truth compels me to admit that I am not tall,
though I am slender and well-proportioned. I have a graceful frame,
and my movements are easy. I have a well-formed leg and a pretty foot;
hands and arms like a model; eyes well-set, and a frank, attractive,
and intellectual face.”
[13] Jeze, _L’État ou le tableau de Paris_, 1760, cited by E. and J.
de Goncourt.
[14] The Comédie-Française owed to him an improvement, the importance
of which can hardly be over-estimated. He it was who first proposed
the abolition of the custom of allowing the _gens à la mode_ to occupy
seats upon the stage itself, a custom which not only interfered with
the movements of the actors, but was utterly destructive of all scenic
illusion. The reconstruction of the auditorium which this change
rendered necessary occupied nearly two months, and cost 40,000 livres,
towards which the count himself subscribed 12,000 livres.
[15] Lauraguais, who affected Anglomania among his other
eccentricities, may be said to have introduced horse-racing into
France. The first race was run on February 28, 1766, on the Plaine
de Sablons, at Neuilly. It was a match between Lauraguais and
Lord Forbes, the former riding his own horse, and was witnessed
by an immense crowd, which had the mortification of seeing the
French champion vanquished. The contest led to a great deal of
unpleasantness, for, a few days later, the count’s horse died, and
the surgeons whom the disconsolate owner called in to dissect it
declared that the animal had been poisoned. The English visitors were,
of course, suspected, and so great was the outcry against them that
another match, which had been arranged between the Prince of Nassau
and Mr. Forth, was forbidden by the King.
[16] Collé, _Journal et Mémoires_, iii. 47 _et seq._ Collé declares
that there was a scene in this play worthy of Molière himself. King
Pétaud appears dressed as a cook, with a white cap on his head and a
knife by his side. He has just made some _pâtés_, which he hands round
to his obsequious courtiers, who pronounce them divine, delicious,
inimitable, and so forth. One grey-haired old gentleman however
refrains from joining in the general chorus of admiration, and when
the King, piqued by his indifference, inquires the reason, replies:
“Pardon me, Sire; the _pâtés_ are indeed excellent. But, if your
Majesty will permit me to speak without flattery, I would venture to
observe that the woodcock-pie which you made the day before yesterday
appeared to me infinitely superior to them.” Thereupon the King’s brow
clears, and, clapping the astute old man on the shoulder, he exclaims:
“That is right; I always like people to tell me the truth.” Louis XV.,
as every one knows, was very fond of preparing dishes with his own
royal hands, and decidedly vain of his culinary skill, and no one with
any acquaintance with the Court could possibly have missed the point
of the satire.
[17] Diderot, _Mémoires et Correspondance_, ii. 62.
[18] _Mémoires et Correspondance_, ii. 42.
[19] Campardon, _Académie Royale de Musique au XVIIIe siècle_:
Article, “Arnould.”
[20] Here, according to that princess, was one of _le Grand
Monarque’s_ feats in gastronomy: “Four platefuls of different soups,
a whole pheasant, a partridge, a plateful of salad, mutton hashed
with garlic, two good-sized slices of ham, and afterwards fruit and
sweetmeats.”
[21] Some writers declare that, in his passions, he would destroy
everything breakable within his reach; others, that he went so far as
to strike and even, occasionally, to _bite_ the unfortunate Sophie.
[22] He had previously written a _Clytemnestre_, which Diderot, having
had the privilege of hearing the author read it, tells us contained
some very fine verses, the work, however, not of the count, but
of a “ghost” in his employ, named Clinchant. This play Lauraguais
endeavoured to prevail upon the Comédie-Française to produce. The
actors found themselves in a somewhat embarrassing position, as the
count had just subscribed the 12,000 livres already mentioned towards
the alterations in the theatre necessitated by the removal of the
seats on the stage, and, from motives of gratitude, they did not like
to refuse. On the other hand, the tragedy was so utterly opposed to
all the canons of dramatic art that to produce it would be to court
not only failure but ridicule. Eventually, however, they persuaded
him to withdraw his offer. Notwithstanding its rejection by the
Comédie-Française, Lauraguais thought so highly of his _Clytemnestre_
that he caused it to be printed, and sent a copy to Voltaire, who
wrote back that his own _Oreste_ was but “_une plate machine_” in
comparison with M. le Comte’s superb masterpiece. The noble author,
says Diderot, took the poet quite seriously, and his delight and pride
knew no bounds.