Georgette Leblanc

Georgette Leblanc (8 February 1869 – 27 October 1941) was a French operatic soprano, actress, author, and the sister of novelist Maurice Leblanc. She became particularly associated with the works of Jules Massenet and was an admired interpreter of the title role in Bizet's Carmen.

For many years Leblanc was the lover of Belgian playwright and writer Maurice Maeterlinck, and he wrote several parts for her within his stage plays. She played Ariane in Ariane et Barbe-bleue, both in the original 1899 stage play by Maeterlinck and in the 1907 opera adaptation by Paul Dukas, as well as La Mort de Tintagiles in 1905 in Paris. Leblanc also appeared in a couple of French films, most notably L'Inhumaine in 1924. In the last few decades of her life she turned to writing, producing two commercially successful autobiographies and several children's books and travelogues.

Biography Georgette Leblanc was born into a cultured family that valued the arts of all forms and encouraged her to pursue music, acting, and writing. She initially worked for a short time as an actress on the Paris stage before studying music under Jules Massenet in that city. She made her professional opera debut at the Opéra-Comique on 23 November 1893 as Françoise in Alfred Bruneau's L'attaque du moulin. Shortly thereafter she returned to that opera house to sing the title role in Bizet's Carmen. In 1894 she joined the roster at the Théâtre de la Monnaie where she sang numerous parts for the next three seasons, including: Anita in La Navarraise and the title roles in both Massenet's Thaïs and Carmen once again.

In 1895, Leblanc met playwright Maurice Maeterlinck in Brussels with whom she began a 23-year romantic relationship.

Beginning with Aglavaine and Sélysette in 1896, she began to appear in a number of Maeterlinck's plays, several of which included characters specifically written for or based on her. She also sang in a number of recitals and concerts in Paris that included German lieder by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann that had been translated into French by Maeterlinck.

Beginning in August 1893, Maeterlinck collaborated with Claude Debussy on the opera Pelléas et Mélisande, which was based on Maeterlinck's play of the same name. Leblanc was originally slated to perform the role of Mélisande in the opera's 1902 premiere, but she was replaced by Mary Garden. This angered Maeterlinck, who threatened legal action and physical violence against Debussy for ousting his lover from the part. She did, however, originate the title role in the world premiere of Paul Dukas's operatic adaptation of Maeterlinck's Ariane et Barbe-bleue in 1907, having already portrayed Ariane in the original stage play in 1899 in Paris.

After her relationship with Maeterlinck ended, Leblanc remained active on the stage within his plays throughout the 1920s, although her singing career was pretty much over.

In 1930, Leblanc published Souvenirs (1895–1918), an account of her liaison with Maeterlinck. She also authored a further autobiography and several children's books and travelogues. She died at Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes in 1941 and was buried in the Notre Dame des Anges Cemetery beside Margaret Anderson.

Works Le Choix de la Vie (1904) La Mort de Tintagiles (1905) The Children's Bluebird (1913) The Girl who Found the Blue Bird: A visit to Helen Keller (1914) Maeterlinck's Dogs (1919) The Choice of Life (1927) Souvenir (1931) Souvenirs: My life with Maeterlinck (1932) Story of the Blue Bird (1939) La Machine à Courage (1947)