Mélanie-Charlotte Reboux by Liébert

Mélanie-Charlotte Reboux (1834-1876); French soprano.
She began her vocal studies in Brussels and continued them in Paris at the Conservatoire National. In 1861 she made her debut at the Grand Opéra Paris, where on 13 March 1861 she performed the role of the Sheperd in the première of the revised version of Wagner's "Tannhäuser", which ended in a scandalous failure. She soon left the Grand Opéra and then appeared in theaters in the French province. In the season 1864/65 she was engaged at the Théâtre lyrique and here she created the role of Vincenette in the premiere of Gounod's "Mireille" (on 19 March 1864). In the season 1867/68 she appeared at La Scala Milan where she performed Juliette in Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette". Here she also created the dual roles of Margherita and Elena in the premiere of Boito's "Mefistofele" on 5 March 1868. In 1869 she made a guest appearance at the Grand Opéra Paris as Valentine in Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots". After her marriage she also used the name Matthyssens. She died at the height of her career.