The enigmatic Mademoiselle Duval. Mademoiselle is all we have. We don’t know her first name; even her last name is most likely a stage name, an invention. New research suggests that her mother was a dancer, and her father was not a Monsieur Duval, but might have been the Archbishop who was the papal nuncio from Rome. (Duval is the most common surname in France.)
But, Mlle Duval is how she was known in her own day, and that’s what she’s been ever since. The harpsichordist. Dancer. Opera composer. Second woman to have an opera performed at the Paris opera - the first was Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre. They called her La Légende, the legend, which is apposite because she’s like a mythical being herself, the details of her life are so scant.
The first reference we have is October 13 1736, from someone who’d just enjoyed an evening at the Paris Opera, writing a letter about this new opera ballet Les Génies or the Characters of Love, sponsored by the Prince of Carignan with a libretto by the famed Jacques Fleury – and there on stage playing the harpsichord throughout was the young composer. A woman! Mlle Duval, just 18. The reviews support this, singling out the composer as a young person with much talent. It ran for nine performances and has always been frequently revived.
The next time she pops up is as the composer of a popular duet, Du Dieu qui fait aimer of the God who makes you love …. and then there’s a mention of her 40 years later. She’s still alive.
And that’s it. Could she be a Louise Duval ? But the dates are wrong. The Louise was born too early. All we have of the Mademoiselle is her music: an opera in one prologue and four acts about the various characters of love. Love indiscreet, love ambitious, love violent, and the fourth love that is light as air
Mlle Duval. c.1718 – c.1769 (or 1775) (or later)
MUSIC: “Tyrant of a Faithful and Tender Heart" from Les Génies
Marie Perbost, soprano
Ensemble Il Caravaggio / Camille Delaforge
Presented by Anna Clyne
Written and produced by Charlotte Wilson for WMHT
