Gustave Roger and Marie-Stéphanie Meillet by Mitkiewicz

Gustave Roger (1815-1879); French tenor who sang in numerous premières. The most known are: Jean de Leyde in Meyerbeer's "Le prophète" (1849), Azaël in Auber's "L'enfant prodigue" (1850), Léon in Halevy's "Le juif errant" (1852) and Horace in Gounod's "La colombe" (1860). In 1838 he made his debut at the Opéra-Comique Paris as George in Halévy's "L'Éclair". During the following ten years, he was one of the most famous singers of the Opéra-Comique. In 1849 he was engaged by the Grand Opéra Paris where he made his debut as Jean de Leyde in Meyerbeer's "Le Prophète" with Pauline Viardot as Fidès. In the 1850s he undertook numerous guest appearances in Germany where he also sang in the German language. In 1851 and 1859 he appeared at the Berliner Hofoper, in 1851/52, 1854 and 1857 at the Stadttheater von Hamburg, in 1851 at the Hofoper von Dresden and in many other German cities. Due to a hunting accident in 1859 he lost his right arm. Until 1862 he remained at the Opéra-Comique and until 1868 he made guest appearances (Brussels, Prague etc). In 1868 he received his appointment as professor at the Conservatoire National in Paris. In 1880 his memories were published under the title "Le Carnet d'un Ténor".


Marie-Stéphanie Meillet-Meyer (1828-?); French soprano.
In 1848 she made her debut (under the name of Meyer) at the Opéra-Comique as Fiamma in Boulanger’s “Le Diable à École”. Here she created the role of Cadige in the première of Halévy’s “La fée aux roses” (1849) and the role of Lisanka in “La dame de pique” (1850) also by Halévy. In 1851 she married the baritone Auguste-Alphonse Meillet (1828-1871), who had studied together with her at the Paris Conservatoire National. From then on they had a kind of joint career; in 1852 they were both engaged at the Théâtre-Lyrique where they were very successfull. In 1854 she sang at the first performance of Hector Berlioz's oratorio "L'enfance du Christ" the rôle of Maria while her husband Auguste Meillet sang the role of Joseph. In 1862 they both left the Théâtre-Lyrique and sang at French provincial theaters. In the season 1863/64 they were enaged at the “La Monnaie” at Brussels and in the following years they continued their careers at Paris.