Madame Gonthier


Rose Françoise Carpentier called Madame Gonthier, was a French actress and lyrical artist.

Life

Born in Metz in 1747, her aptitude for theatrical arts is said to have been apparent from childhood, and a few society successes proved her aptitude for comic roles. She played in the provinces and in Brussels from 1771 to 1777, where she was a member of theatre La Monnaie's company, which was sponsored by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, governor of the Austrian Netherlands
In 1778 she made her debut in Paris, at the Comédie-Italienne being engaged for the roles of duègnes : on 18, 19 and 21 Mars she performed the role of Simone in Le sorcier by Philidor, then the mother Bobi, in Rose et Colas by Monsigny, and finally Alix, in the premiere of Les trois fermiers by Dezède.
Thanks to her success, on 2 May of the same year, with an act signed by the Duke of Richelieu and the Duke of Duras on behalf of the Maison du Roi, she was officially received "into the Comédie Italienne to play duenna roles with the promise to be received with a quarter share at Easter 1779, whereupon she is pledged to faithfully fill all such roles and those for which the Comédie will deem her necessary".
Thus, in 1779, she was admitted as a member of the Comédie-Italienne. She successively played comedy and comic opera. In 1783 her appearance at the first Salle Favart, the new venue of the theatre, was marked by triumphs. In the theatre registers between 1780 and 1784, the following note about her is reported:
She later left the Opéra-Comique following a dispute with the management and in 1793 she signed a contract with the théâtre de la République but Madame Gonthier was not there "in her sphere". She played in Lille in 1798–1799.
In 1801, she was a member of the new society of actors of the Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique.
Among the many creations that mark her career, Alix from Blaise et Babet by Dezède, Perrette in Fanfan et Colas, Babet in Philippe et Georgette, the old peasant in Adèle et Dorsan, Madame Bernard in Marianne, Mopsa from The judgment of Midas.
In 1807, a performance for her benefit was given at the Paris Opera in the presence of the empress Joséphine de Beauharnais.
She said goodbye to the Opéra-Comique in 1812.

Private

She married Charles-Adrien Gontier, an actor in Brussels then in Versailles, and in second marriage François Allaire, coryphée of the Opéra-Comique, in 1798.
According to Sainte-Beuve, she is said to have had a romantic relationship with Florian in 1778, and inspired the character of Estelle in Estelle et Némorin by Henri-Joseph Rigel.

Creation