Rosalie Levasseur

Who was Rosalie Levasseur?

Rosalie Levasseur or Le Vasseur was a French soprano. Known as 'Mlle Rosalie', she is best remembered for her work with the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck.

Born in Valenciennes in 1749, she first appeared at the Paris Opéra in a revival of Campra's L'Europe galante. After an undistinguished beginning to her career, she appeared in the French première of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice on 2 August 1774, after which she was asked to create the title roles in the tragédie Alceste on 23 April 1776, Armide on 23 September 1777, and Iphigenie en Tauride on 18 May 1779. She also appeared in operas by Gluck's rival Niccolò Piccinni, as well as Johann Christian Bach, André Grétry, and Antonio Sacchini.

Julian Rushton describes Levasseur as a "powerful rather than flexible singer, with a good stage presence if unattractive features."

She died in Neuwied am Rhein in 1826.