Caroline Girard by Franck

Caroline Girard (1830-?); French soprano.

In 1853 she made her debut at the Théâtre Lyrique were she was engaged until 1863. She performed at many premières: the title role in Gevaert's "Georgette" (1853), Georgette in Maillart's "Les Dragons de Villars" (1856), in Clapison's "Margot", Jacqueline in Gounod's "Le medecin malgré lui" (1858), in Sermet's "Gil Blas" (1860) and in many more (now completely forgotten) opera's. From 1863-1870 she was engaged at the Opéra-Comique where she created the role of Suzanne in Offenbach's "Robinson Crusoe" (1867). In 1869 she sang at the Offenbach première of "Vert-Vert". After 1878 she largely retired from the stage. In 1879 she created the role of the Duchesse Della Volta in Offenbach's "La fille du tambour-major" together with her daughter Juliette as Stella and her son-in-law Max Simon as Griolet.

She was the mother of the soprano Juliette (Simon-)Girard (1859-1954), who married the tenor Max Simon (1852-1923). The marriage ended in divorce (1894).

On the photo she is seen in her creator role of Gil Blas in Sermet's eponymous opera.