Lucienne Bréval by Nadar

Lucienne Bréval, born Berthe Brennwald (1869-1935); Swiss soprano.
She studied singing at the Conservatoire National Paris with Victor Warot. In 1892 she made her debut at the Grand Opéra Paris as Selika in Meyerbeer's "L'Africaine". She became a principal soprano at the Paris Opéra and remained there until 1919. Her roles at the Grand Opéra included several world premières including Augusta Holmès' "La Montagne Noire" (1895), Erlanger's "Le fils de l'étoile" (1904), Massenet's "Bacchus" (1909) and the title roles in Massenet's "Ariane" (1906) and Henry Février’s "Monna Vanna" (1909). She also was Kundry in France's first performance of Wagner's "Parsifal" (1914). Her other notable roles at the Paris Opera included Brünnhilde in Wagner's "Die Walküre" (1893), Venus in Wagner's "Tannhäuser" (1895), Marguerite in Berlioz's "La damnation de Faust" (1897) and the title role in Rameau's "Hippolyte et Aricie" (1908). She also occasionally appeared in productions at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Most notably she portrayed the title role in the world premiere of Massenet’s "Grisélidis" in 1901 and in 1910 she created the role of Lady Macbeth in the première of Bloch’s "Macbeth", which he dedicated to her. In 1913 at Monte Carlo she created the title role in the opera "Pénélope" by Gabriel Fauré. In 1899 and 1901 she made guest appearances at Covent Garden London. In 1900/02 she was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera Newe York. Guest performances and concerts brought her new successes in Italy, England, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and France. After her retirement from the stage in 1919 she taught singing in Paris.
The only sound recording of Bréval singing was made on a Mapleson cylinder during a performance of L’Africaine at the Metropolitan Opera: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlO09lOOPac

On the photo she is seen as Eva in Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg". On 10 November 1897 this opera was performed for the first time at the Grand Opéra Paris in a French version by Alfred Ernst as "Des Maîtres chanteurs de Nuremberg".