This edition of the program features the famous French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur. After her Paris debut at the Comedie Francaise in 1717 she was immensely popular with the public. Her talent was shining equally bright in comedy and tragedy. She was credited with having developed a more natural, less stylized type of acting. Her life, however, ended in tragedy as she was apparently poisoned by a rival.

Adrienne Lecouvreur was born toward the end of the 17th century in the little French village of Damery, not far from Rheims. To speed up his business, Adrienne’s father moved to Paris and rented a flat that happened to be near the famous Comedie Francaise Theater. Always eager to perform on stage, Adrienne made her debut on March 14, 1717 and for 13 years she shone on stage of France’s premiere theater…

The great philosopher and poet Voltaire was a great fan of Adrienne’s outstanding beauty and talent. For many years the two were bound together, though there were strange events to ruffle the surface of their mutual affection. One such event played a very unfortunate role in the life of the great French philosopher. A certain Monsieur De Maison, a rich  patron of the arts who helped penniless talents, had built himself a splendid country house  designed by the famous French architect Francois Mansart who is known as the father of the mansard roof. It was exactly where Adrienne was supposed to perform in a play Voltaire had just finished writing. Invitations were sent out to representatives of the city’s high society and just as everyone waited for the curtain to go up, Voltaire suddenly went down with a terrible fit of fever. Doctors who were immediately called for said it was black smallpox.  The next moment everybody was on his feet and running out of De Maison’s wonderful mansion… All except Adrienne Lecouvreur who stayed on and diligently looked after the ailing Voltaire and finally brought him back to life. What started as a friendship gradually turned into a tender affection.

Soon after Adrienne Lecouvreur became even more famous, thanks to her tragic love for Count Maurice of Saxony.  In 1726 the Count who was also head over heels in love with Adrienne was seeking the title of the Grand Duke of Courland. The thing was that without money his ambition would be thwarted. Come what might, Maurice should be Duke of Courland and so Adrienne gathered together her whole fortune, sold every jewel and even every piece of tableware she possessed, and sent her lover the sum he needed to gain the title. The money-strapped Count readily approved of Adrienne’s decision. As it appears, however, the light-minded Maurice was having affairs also with two other ladies, one of whom eventually poisoned the poor Adrienne sending her a bouquet of poisoned flowers… According to another version, it was a box of poisoned sweets…
A couple of months prior to Adrienne’s death, the Duchesse de Bouillon, a great lady of the court – facile, feline, licentious, and eager for delights–resolved that she would win the love of Maurice de Saxe. She set herself to win it openly and without any sense of shame. Maurice refused to return her affection and, just like any woman who gets turned down, the Duchess blamed Adrienne for the Count’s indifference and so she decided to avenge herself. That’s why the Duchess of Bouillon became the prime suspect in Adrienne’s untimely demise…
The great actress was dying all alone abandoned by everyone, except her good old friend Voltaire who closed her eyes and was the only one to attend her burial. Back in those days actors were excommunicated and were supposed to be laid to rest without any service, candles and incense and even without a coffin.  The Church’s refusal to grant Lecouvreur a Christian burial resulted in a bitter poem by her friend Voltaire. 

The life of some people reads like a legend, their acts fairly tale, their love affairs miraculous and their very end remembered as something amazing and high-minded. Adrienne Lecouvreur is the subject of a play by Eugene Scribe and Ernest Legouve and of the opera Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea.

03/01/2006