Elisa Frandin
{{short description|Finnish opera singer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Elisa Frandin
| image = ElisaFrandin1908.png
| alt = An engraved portrait of a young white woman in an opera costume as Mignon, with a corseted dress over a peasant-style blouse
| caption = Elisa Frandin as "Mignon", from a 1908 publication
| other_names = Lison Frandin, Elisabeta Combi
| birth_name = Elisabeth Frandin
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1859|4|7|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
| death_date = {{death date and age|1911|1|24|1859|4|7|df=yes}}
| death_place = Milan, Kingdom of Italy
| occupation = Opera singer, voice teacher
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Elisa Frandin (7 April 1865Baptismal certificate of Elisa, "extracted from the original matriculation book of the Roman Catholic Church of
Helsingfors" relating to the birth and baptism of Elisabetta Frandin for the year 1865, 29th sheet under the number 10.
"The year 1865 of the 25th of April from my Chaplain of the troops placed in Finland, priest Father Ignazio Gorbatini (?) was baptized with all the ceremonies of the sacrament the little girl with the name of Elizabeth, daughter of the French consul Ippolito Frandin and his wife Polina nee Letagnian, legally married, born in Helsingfors on the 7th of the same month of April. Godparents were Arman de Borbone del Vilfer and Elisabetta Augusta Gutorinel de Perra. Also present were Pietre Devine and Adelaide Liten. The Imperial Consulate of Russia in Venice certifies the accuracy of this translation from Russian and French into Italian of the original faith. – 24 January 1911) was a Finnish-French opera singer.
Early life
Elisabeth Frandin was born in Helsinki, the daughter of Joseph-Hippolyte-Eugène Frandin and Pauline Lemagne. Her parents were French; her father was the French consul in Helsinki when she was born. Her older brother Joseph-Hippolyte Frandin (1852–1926), was a French diplomat in China, Korea, Colombia, and Ecuador.{{Cite book|last1=Vautier|first1=Claire Vigneau, Mme Alfred|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/458432562|title=En Corée, par Mme Claire Vautier et Hippolyte Frandin.|last2=Frandin|first2=Hippolyte|date=1905|publisher=C. Delagrave|location=Paris|language=French|oclc=458432562}}{{Cite web|title=Hippolyte Frandin (1852–1926)|url=https://data.bnf.fr/fr/16599220/hippolyte_frandin/|access-date=5 April 2021|website=data.bnf.fr|language=fr}}
Elisa Frandin studied voice at the Conservatoire de Paris with Joseph-Théodore-Désiré Barbot and Louis-Henri Obin. She won several awards as a Conservatoire student.
Career
Frandin, who sang soprano and mezzo-soprano parts, made her professional debut in Paris in 1881, in Grissart's Les Poupées de l'Infante. Frandin sang in operas in Cairo, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Berlin, and many Italian cities. Her repertoire included roles in Lakmé by Delibes (1883),{{Cite web|last=Fuller|first=Nick|date=16 August 2018|title=81. Lakmé (Léo Delibes)|url=https://operascribe.com/2018/08/16/81-lakme-leo-delibes/|url-status=live|access-date=5 April 2021|website=The Opera Scribe|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924232430/https://operascribe.com/2018/08/16/81-lakme-leo-delibes/ |archive-date=2020-09-24 }} Bizet's Carmen,{{Cite journal|date=18 December 1887|title=Ricordi Artistici|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9NxsfnIE0PAC&dq=Elisa+Frandin&pg=PA105|journal=L'Arpa Giornale Letterario, Artistico, Teatrale|language=it|volume=34|pages=105–106}} Verdi's Aida, Maillart's Les dragons de Villars, Auber's Le Domino Noir, Boito's Mefistofele, Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Massenet's Werther and La Navarraise (1895–1896),{{Cite journal|date=1 March 1896|title=In Italian Cities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L75IAQAAMAAJ&dq=Elisa+Frandin&pg=PA173|journal=The Theatre|volume=27|pages=172–173}}{{Cite web|title=La Navarrese|url=http://www.librettodopera.it/public/schede/scheda/id/10276|access-date=5 April 2021|website=Libretti d'opera|language=it}} and Leoncavallo's La bohème (1897).{{Cite web|title=La bohème (1897)|url=http://www.librettidopera.it/boheme_l/boheme_l.html|url-status=live|access-date=5 April 2021|website=Libretti di opera|language=it|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070215212512/http://www.librettidopera.it:80/boheme_l/boheme_l.html |archive-date=2007-02-15 }}{{Cite book|last=Dryden|first=Konrad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LwEh6-URsgkC&dq=Lison+Frandin&pg=PA36|title=Leoncavallo: Life and Works|date=3 February 2007|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-1-4617-1665-5|pages=36–37, 43, 70|language=en}} She and Marie van Zandt were the first to sing the well-known Flower Duet from Lakmé, in Paris in 1883.{{Cite web|title=Lakme : duettino|url=https://auislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/auislandora:37580#page/1/mode/1up|access-date=5 April 2021|website=AU Digital Research Archive}}
Frandin survived a train accident in 1893, but lost all her theatrical luggage, including costumes and jewelry; she was compensated with ₤500,000 by the railway company. She retired from the stage when she married in 1897, and opened a music school in Milan.{{Cite journal|date=1 April 1908|title=Lison Frandin's Operatic School|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ixMAQAAMAAJ&dq=Lison+Frandin&pg=RA13-PA14|journal=Musical Courier|volume=56|pages=14}}{{Cite journal|last=Leparello|date=5 January 1908|title=La scuola di Lison Frandin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uHJYEqye8J8C&dq=Lison+Frandin&pg=PA15|journal=L'Illustrazione Popolare|language=it|pages=15–16}}
Personal life
Frandin married Italian journalist Carlo Combi in 1897. They had a son, Mario Combi, born in 1898. She died in 1911, aged 51 years, in Milan.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.digitalarchivioricordi.com/en/people/display/1672/Lison%20%20Frandin Manuscript letters by Lison Frandin, 1884–1885], from the Archivio Storico Ricordi, Collezione Digitale.
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Category:19th-century Finnish women opera singers
Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni
Category:Singers from Helsinki
Category:Finnish people of French descent