Marguerite Olagnier
Born: 8 March 1844, Paris, France
Died: 9 September, 1906, Paris, France
BIOGRAPHY MUSIC SOURCES
Marguerite (Joly) Olagnier was a singer, composer, and poet who enjoyed a rich musical life at the Théâtre des Variétées. Her uncle founded a satirical newspaper as well as the Theatre des Renaissance and it’s likely she spent her early years immersed in theater. At an early age she was the understudy for a rising star of operetta but never was able to perform. She moved to Cairo, where she met her husband, and lived there for ten years.
While in Egypt with her husband, she composed Le Saïs (Le sais is a member of the Ottoman empire who clears the way for important dignitaries) with influences from opera and operetta. Her four-act opera featured ”the exotic desires of women” with a handsome tenor, the young Naghib, being the source of pleasure and exoticism in the use of music derived from Egyptian melodies.The comedic, slightly bawdy aria sung by mezzo soprano, Nasleh, entitled “Beau Sais” infers that Naghib has indeed “enjoyed” time with Tefida, the soprano, already.
Though it was met with criticism for its excesses, Le saïs was staged both at the Theatre de la Renaissance in 1881 and a year later at the Opéra-Comique. By then, Olagnier had moved back to Paris. She composed additional melodies and 2 more operas that were never performed, Le Persan and Lilipa; both have been lost. Olagnier also founded and directed the Théâtre de l'Oratorio, where she gave performances of 18th and 19th century oratorios.