View source for Cornélie Falcon

{{Short description|French soprano (1814–1897)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
[[File:Cornélie Falcon - Galerie de la Presse - Gallica v2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Cornélie Falcon in 1835]]
'''Cornélie Falcon''' (28 January 1814 {{refn|Falcon's date of birth is given as 28 January 1814 by many sources <ref>Bouvet 1927 ([http://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=%2228+Janvier%22+intitle:falcon+inauthor:bouvet&num=10 snippet view] at [[Google Books]]); Gourret 1987, p. 33; Kuhn 1992, p. 219; Warrack and West 1992, p. 230; and Robinson and Walton 2011.</ref> Other sources give her date of birth as 28 January 1812 <ref>including Fétis 1862, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ssmzj4ZblG4C&dq=editions%3AHARVARD32044039600002&pg=PA179 p. 179]; Pitou 1990, p. 449; Robinson 1992, p. 110; and Kutsch and Riemens 2003, p. 1388.</ref> Braud 1913,<ref>[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k229346x/f83 pp. 77-78] (footnote 2)</ref> quotes the ''minutes des actes de naissance'' (minutes of birth certificates) of the Préfecture du département de la Seine, which read: "Du 29 janvier de l'an dix-huit cent quatorze, à midi un quart, acte de naissance de Marie-Cornélie, de sexe féminin, née d'hier à midi, rue de Béthizy, nº10, quartier Saint-Honoré, fille de Pierre Falcon, tailleur, et de Edmée-Cornélie Mérot, son épouse." ("On 29 January of the year eighteen hundred fourteen, at noon and a quarter, birth certificate of Marie-Cornélie, of female sex, born yesterday at noon, Rue du Béthizy, no. 10, Saint-Honoré Quarter, daughter of Pierre Falcon, tailor, and of Edmée-Cornélie Mérot, his wife."). Thus, her birth occurred at noon on 28 January 1814 and was recorded on 29 January at 12:15 p.m. Braud specifically repudiates the errors of earlier publications by Larousse and Malherbes which give the year 1812.|group=n}} – 25 February 1897) was a French [[dramatic soprano]] who sang at the [[Paris Opera|Opéra]] in Paris. Her greatest success was creating the role of Valentine in Meyerbeer's ''[[Les Huguenots]]''. She possessed "a full, resonant voice"<ref name=WW>Warrack and West 1992, p. 230.</ref> with a distinctive dark timbre<ref name=GroveOnline>Robinson and Walton 2011.</ref> and was an exceptional actress.<ref name=WW /> Based on the roles written for her voice her vocal range spanned from low A-flat(A{{music|b}}<sub>3</sub>) to high D(D<sub>6</sub>), 2.5 octaves. She and the tenor [[Adolphe Nourrit]] are credited with being primarily responsible for raising artistic standards at the Opéra,<ref name=WW /> and the roles in which she excelled came to be known as "falcon soprano" parts.<ref name=NGO>Robinson 1992, p. 110.</ref> She had an exceptionally short career, essentially ending about five years after her debut, when at the age of 23 she lost her voice during a performance of Niedermeyer's ''[[Stradella (opera)|Stradella]]''.

==Early life and training==
She was born Marie-Cornélie Falcon in Le Monastier sur Gazeille (Velay) to Pierre Falcon, a master-tailor, and his wife Edmée-Cornélie. Falcon was one of three children; her sister Jenny Falcon was to marry a Russian nobleman and appear on the stage at the [[Mikhailovsky Theatre]] in [[St. Petersburg]].<ref>Braud 1913, p. 77.</ref> Cornélie was enrolled at the [[Paris Conservatory]] from 1827 to 1831.<ref name=Gourret>Gourret 1987, p. 33.</ref> There she first studied with Felice Pellegrini and [[François-Louis Henry]], and later with [[Marco Bordogni]] and Adolphe Nourrit.<ref name=WW/> She won a second prize in ''[[solfège]]'' in 1829, a first prize in vocalization (''vocalisation'') in 1830, and a first prize in singing (''chant'') in 1831.<ref>Pierre 1900, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MXAJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA751 p. 751].</ref>

==Debut in ''Robert le diable''==
At the invitation of Nourrit she made her debut at the age of 18 at the Opéra as Alice in the 41st performance of [[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]]'s ''[[Robert le diable (opera)|Robert le diable]]'' (20 July 1832). The cast included Nourrit and [[Julie Dorus]] (who had premiered the role in 1830<ref>According to Desarbres 1868, [https://books.google.com/books?id=A7U5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA60 p. 60], Julie Dorus alternated in the two roles of Alice and Isabelle, the flexibility of her voice enabling this vocal tour de force.</ref>). The director of the Opéra, [[Louis Véron]], had made certain there was plenty of advance publicity, and the auditorium was packed. The audience included the composers [[Rossini]], [[Berlioz]], [[Luigi Cherubini|Cherubini]], [[Fromental Halévy|Halévy]], and [[Daniel Auber|Auber]], the singers [[Maria Malibran]], [[Caroline Branchu]], and [[Giulia Grisi]], and two of France's greatest actresses from the [[Comédie-Française]], [[Mademoiselle Mars]] and [[Marguerite Georges|Mademoiselle Georges]]. Other audience members included the painters [[Honoré Daumier]] and [[Ary Scheffer]], the librettist [[Eugène Scribe]], and the critics and writers [[Théophile Gautier]], [[Alexandre Dumas]], [[Victor Hugo]], and [[Alfred de Musset]].<ref>The list of celebrities in the audience is compiled from Smart 2003, pp. 113-114, Somerset-Wild 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dVZl_G_h7aUC&pg=PA172 p. 172], and Braud 1913, p. 80, who also lists many others, including [[Benjamin Constant]], [[Gérard de Nerval]], [[Eugène Sue]], [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve]] and [[Adolphe Thiers]].</ref> Although understandably suffering from stage fright, Falcon managed to sing her first aria without error, and finished her role with "ease and competence."<ref name=Pitou449>Pitou 1990, p. 449.</ref> Her tragic demeanor and dark looks were highly appropriate to the part,<ref name=Pitou449/> and she made a vivid impression on the public.<ref name=Fetis>Fétis 1862, p. 179.</ref>

Meyerbeer himself came to Paris to see Falcon as Alice, but after her fifth performance on 24 August she had to withdraw due to illness, and he did not get to hear her until 17 September.<ref>Pitou 1990, pp. 449–450.</ref> The following day Meyerbeer wrote to his wife: "The house was as full as it ever could be, 8700 francs (without subscription) and many people could not find seats. The performance was ... so fresh ... like the first performance of the work, not a trace of being played out. About Falcon I dare not reach any definite conclusion, ... only it is evident that she has a strong and beautiful voice, not without agility, at the same time that she is a vividly expressive (but somewhat overcharged) actress. Unfortunately her intonation is not completely pure, and I fear she will never overcome these weaknesses. In sum, I think that she could be an outstanding star, and I will certainly in any case write a principal role for her in my new opera."<ref>Letter dated 18 September 1832 from Giacomo Meyerbeer to his wife. Quoted in Kelly 2004, p. 167, and Zimmermann 1998, p. 151.</ref> Meyerbeer's new opera would become ''[[Les Huguenots]]'', in which Falcon was to achieve the greatest success of her career.

==Other early roles at the Opéra==
[[File:Costume design for Cornélie Falcon as Countess Amélie in Gustave III by Auber 1833 - Gallica.jpg|thumb|Costume design for Falcon as Amélie in Act 2 of ''Gustave III'']]
Her next role at the Opéra came on 27 February 1833 when she sang Amélie in Auber's ''[[Gustave III (Auber)|Gustave III]]''. Ellen Creathorne Clayton has described the performance as follows:
<blockquote>
Unfortunately, the part of the Countess Amélie, with its powder and hoops, and pretty coquetry, was not suited to the dark and mystic style of Cornélie. "Alas, Mdlle. Falcon!" cried [[Jules Janin]]; "this young creature, of such great hopes, sang without voice, without expression, without exertion, without energy, without point." She was stifled amid the mad gayety, the whirl of the dancers, the glare and splendor of the scenes. The singers in ''Gustave'' indeed were "nowhere;" the dancers reigned supreme.<ref>Clayton 1865, p. 324.</ref>
</blockquote>

[[Luigi Cherubini]] asked Falcon to create Morgiana in his new 4-act ''tragédie lyrique'' ''[[Ali Baba, ou Les quarante voleurs]]'' (''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves''). The premiere was on 22 July 1833, and, as Spire Pitou tells us, "his invitation was more flattering than substantial, because the part of Morgiana hardly constituted a real challenge to a young and ambitious singer".<ref name=Pitou450>Pitou 1990, p. 450.</ref>

Falcon's next real opportunity to shine came with a new revival of ''Don Juan''. This was a 5-act adaptation in French by [[Castil-Blaze]], his son Henri Blaze, and Émile Deschamps of Mozart's ''[[Don Giovanni]]''. The all-star cast included Falcon as Donna Anna and Nourrit as Don Juan with [[Nicolas Levasseur]] as Leporello, Marcellin Lafont as Don Ottavio, [[Prosper Dérivis]] as the Commandeur, Henri Dabadie as Masetto, Julie Dorus-Gras as Elvire, and [[Laure Cinti-Damoreau]] as Zerline.<ref>Chouquet 1873, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HfssAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA398 p. 398].</ref> Berlioz, who must have attended a dress rehearsal, had some reservations about Falcon's performance, writing in ''Rénovateur'' (6 March 1834): 
<blockquote>
Mlle Falcon, so energetic in ''Robert le Diable'', was physically speaking, with her contenance "pale as a beautiful autumn evening", the ideal Donna Anna. She had fine moments in the accompanied recitative sung over her father's body. Why then did she all at once go off the boil in the great aria of the first act, "Tu sais quel inflâme"? Oh! Mlle Falcon, with those black eyes of yours and the incisive voice you possess, there is no need to be afraid. Let your eyes flash and your voice ring out: you will be yourself, and you will be the incarnation of the vengeful Spanish noblewoman whose principal features your timidity veiled from us.<ref>Quoted and translated by Cairns 1999, p. 71.</ref>
</blockquote>
Berlioz was rather more frank in a letter in which he wrote "my position [as a critic] has not allowed me to admit that without exception all the singers, and Nourrit most of all, are a thousand miles below their roles."<ref>Quoted and translated by Cairns 1999, p. 66.</ref> Nevertheless, Falcon was admirably suited to the part, and her reception after the opening on 10 March 1834, was even more favorable than that which she had received for Alice.<ref name=Pitou450/>

On 3 May 1834, Falcon sang Julia in a revival of Spontini's ''[[La vestale]]'' which was a benefit performance for Adolphe Nourrit. The cast, besides Nourrit as Licinius, included Nicolas Levasseur as Cinna, Henri Dabadie as the High Priest, and Zulmé Leroux-Dabadie as the Grand Vestal. The second act was repeated as an excerpt five more times that season.<ref>[[Théodore Lajarte|Lajarte]] 1878, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gnw6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA63 pp. 63–64]; Chouquet 1873, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HfssAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA382 p. 382].</ref> Falcon's portrayal of Julia was received favorably.<ref>Kutsch and Riemens 2003, p. 1388.</ref>

==Concerts with Berlioz==
Berlioz's admiration for the singer was considerable, however, and with Véron's permission he engaged her for one of his concerts which he organized that winter in the hall of the Paris Conservatory. It was the second in the series and was presented on 23 November 1834 with [[Narcisse Girard]] conducting. Falcon sang Berlioz's new orchestrations of the songs ''La captive'' and ''Le Jeune Pâtrie breton'', and earned an encore in which she sang an aria by Bellini. The concert also featured the premiere of Berlioz's new symphony ''[[Harold en Italie]]'', and the audience included the [[Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans|Duc d'Orléans]], [[Chopin]], [[Liszt]], and [[Victor Hugo]]. With the new symphony and Falcon as the star singer, the receipts were more than double those of the first concert on 9 November, which had featured the ''[[Symphonie fantastique]]'' and the overture ''[[King Lear Overture|Le Roi Lear]]''.<ref>Holoman 1989, p. 163; Cairns 1999, pp. 41–42.</ref> However, ''La captive'', and not ''Harold'', was the hit of the show, with the ''Gazette Musicale'' (7 December 1834) calling it "a masterpiece of melodic skill and orchestration."<ref>Holoman 1989, p. 164. The orchestration of ''La captive'' has unfortunately been lost (Holoman 1989, p. 241).</ref> Falcon also appeared the following year in a concert on 22 November 1835 which was organized jointly by Girard and Berlioz, in which she again sang Berlioz's ''Le Jeune Pâtre breton'' and an aria from Meyerbeer's opera ''[[Il crociato in Egitto]]''.<ref>Holoman 1989, p. 171; Cairns 1999, p. 99.</ref>

==Further roles at the Opéra==
[[File:Cornélie Falcon - La Juive - HRobinson after Charpentier - Gallica v2.jpg|thumb|Falcon as Rachel in ''[[La Juive]]'']]
[[File:Eugène Du Faget - Costume designs for Les Huguenots - 2. Julie Dorus-Gras as Marguerite, Adolphe Nourrit as Raoul, and Cornélie Falcon as Valentine.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Falcon (right) as Valentine in ''[[Les Huguenots]]'' (1836), with [[Julie Dorus-Gras]] (left) as Marguerite, and [[Adolphe Nourrit]] as Raoul]]Falcon's other creations at the Opéra included the roles of Rachel in Halévy's ''[[La Juive]]'' (23 February 1835), Valentine in Meyerbeer's ''[[Les Huguenots]]'' (29 February 1836), the title role in [[Louise Bertin]]'s ''[[La Esmeralda (opera)|La Esmeralda]]'' (14 November 1836), and Léonor in [[Louis Niedermeyer]]'s ''[[Stradella (opera)|Stradella]]'' (3 March 1837).<ref>Parsons 193, p. 467.</ref> She also appeared as the Countess in [[Gioacchino Rossini|Rossini]]'s ''[[Le comte Ory]]'' and Pamira in Rossini's ''[[Le siège de Corinthe]]'' (1836).<ref name=Gourret/><ref>Lajarte 1878, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gnw6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA123 pp. 123–124].</ref>

By 1835, Falcon was earning 50,000 francs/year at the Opéra, making her the highest paid artist there, earning nearly twice as much as Nourrit and three times as much as Dorus.<ref>Smart 2003, p. 114</ref>

==Vocal demise and final years==
However, Falcon's singing career was remarkably short. She lost her voice catastrophically during the second performance of ''Stradella'' at the Opéra in March 1837. When Nourrit as Stradella asked her "Demain nous partirons – voulez-vous?" ('We leave tomorrow, are you willing?'), Falcon was unable to sing her line "Je suis prête" ('I am ready'), fainted, and was carried offstage by Nourrit.<ref>Cairns 1999, p. 151, citing Bouvet, 1927. Braud 1913, p. 94, says it was the fourth performance, and gives a different quotation.</ref> Berlioz, who was present, describes "raucous sounds like those of a child with [[croup]], guttural, whistling notes that quickly faded like those of a flute filled with water".<ref>Quoted by Bouvet 1927 and reproduced in Smart 2003, p. 116.</ref> Falcon resumed performances, but her vocal difficulties continued, and she gave her last regular performance there in Meyerbeer's ''[[Les Huguenots]]'' on 15 January 1838.<ref name=NGO/> She resorted to all sorts of bogus treatments and remedies<ref>Kuhn 1992, p. 219.</ref> and moved to Italy for 18 months in the hope that the climate would have a beneficial effect.<ref name=Fetis/>

Falcon returned for a benefit at the Opéra on 14 March 1840, in which she was to sing selections from Act 2 of ''La Juive'' and Act 4 of ''Les Huguenots'' with [[Gilbert Duprez]], Jean-Étienne Massol, and Julie Dorus-Gras. Her appearance was described as seemingly relaxed, as she received a standing ovation at her entrance. Her range in notes was critically diminished, and she could not perform in opera. She was said to have wept in response to her own vocal state. However, soon after it was discovered that her vocal abilities were now gone. As Spire Pitou relates: "She wept at her own pathetic fate but continued despite her inability to do much else besides make the audience regret the loss of her gifts. When she came to the painfully poignant words in ''Les Huguenots'', 'Nuit fatale, nuit d'alarmes, je n'ai plus d'avenir' ('Fatal night, night of alarms, I have no longer a future'), she could not support the dreadful irony of the line.  She had no choice but to retire&nbsp;..."<ref>Pitou 1990, p. 451.</ref> There followed a few performances in Russia in 1840–1841, but after that, except for a few private performances in Paris at the court of [[Louis-Philippe]] and for the [[Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours|Duc de Nemours]], she definitively quit the stage.<ref name=GroveOnline/><ref>Braud 1913, p. 103.</ref>

Many explanations have been offered for Falcon's loss of voice, including the enormous demands of the music of [[Grand Opera]], the "ill-effects of beginning to sing in a large opera house before her body was fully mature", Falcon's attempts to lift her range above its natural [[mezzo-soprano]] range, and nervous fatigue brought on by her personal life.<ref name=Smart116>Smart 2003, p. 116.</ref> Benjamin Walton has analyzed the music written for her and has suggested there was a break in her voice between a' and b{{Flat}}'. [[Gilbert Duprez]], who sang with her on several occasions, speculated that her inability to negotiate this transition was a factor in her "vocal demise".<ref>The suggestion of a break in her voice is credited to Walton by Smart 2003, p. 116, and the suggestion by Gilbert Duprez that this contributed to her loss of voice is mentioned in Robinson and Walton 2001.</ref>

Falcon married a financier, becoming Madame Falcon-Malançon and a grandmother,<ref>Braud 1913, pp. 103–106.</ref> and continued to live, reclusively, near the Opéra in the [[Chaussée d'Antin]], until her death.<ref name=Smart116/> At the end of 1891, she agreed to appear on stage at the Opéra on the occasion of a celebration of the centenary of Meyerbeer, "with three of her surviving contemporaries". She died in 1897 and was buried at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]].<ref>Braud 1913, pp. 103 (note 2), 106.</ref>

==Reputation==
[[File:Costume designs by Louis Boulanger for Louise Bertin's La Esmeralda - No. 22. Cornélie Falcon as Esmeralda - Original.jpg|thumb|Costume design for Falcon in the title role of ''[[La Esmeralda (opera)|La Esmeralda]]'' by [[Louise Bertin]]]]
Having sung many of the important roles of early Grand Opera, Falcon was closely associated with the genre by contemporary audiences. The designation of the voice timbre "falcon", a [[dramatic soprano]] with a strong lower register (and lighter upper register) reflects this. Castil-Blaze described her voice in 1832:
<blockquote>...A range of two octaves extending from b to d<nowiki>'''</nowiki>, and resonating at all points with an equal vigour. A silvery voice, with a brilliant timbre, incisive enough that even the weight of the chorus cannot overwhelm it; yet the sound emitted with such force never loses its charm or purity.<ref>Bouvet 1927 p.39, cited in translation in Smart 2003 p.116</ref></blockquote>

Falcon's personal reputation was also relevant to her career. "Perhaps the only singer of the time to maintain a reputation for chastity", this perception carried over to appreciation of her performances of the ''ingénue'' roles for which she was famed.<ref>Smart 2003, p. 113</ref>

In 1844, [[Henry Fothergill Chorley|Chorley]] wrote of Falcon as:
<blockquote>
... the ill-starred Mademoiselle Falcon, the loved and the lost one of L'Académie.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
She,  indeed, was a person to haunt even a passing stranger. Though the seal of her race was upon her beauty, and it wore the expression of a [[Deborah]] or a [[Judith]],{{refn|Chorley implies, and Jordan 1994, p. 69, explicitly states (but does not cite a source for the information), that Falcon was of [[Jew]]ish descent. She is also identified as Jewish in "F. Halévy", ''Archives israélites'',.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bnEpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA188 vol. 23, no. 4 (1 April 1862), p. 188]</ref> Not a single source provides any documentary evidence  to corroborate this. Kelly 2004, p. 167, labels Chorley's rather indirect phraseology as "anti-semitic doubletalk", although nothing in Chorley's description suggests any such intention.|group=n}} rather than of a [[Melpomene]], I have never seen any actress, who in look and gesture so well deserved the style and title of the Muse of Modern Tragedy. Large, dark, melancholy eyes,&nbsp;– finely cut features,&nbsp;– a form, though slight, not meagre,&nbsp;– and, above all, an expressiveness of tone rarely to be found in voices of her register, which was a legitimate ''soprano'',&nbsp;– the power of engaging interest by mere glance and step when first she presented herself, and of exciting the strongest emotions of pity, or terror, or suspense, by the passion she could develope [sic] in action&nbsp;– such were her gifts. Add to these the charms of her youth, the love borne to her by all her comrades;&nbsp;– and the loss of her voice, followed by the almost desperate efforts made by her to recover it, and her disastrous final appearance when no force of will could torture destroyed Nature into even a momentary resuscitation,&nbsp;– make up one of those tragedies into which a fearful sum of wrecked hope and despair and anguish enters. Hers is a history, if all tales are true, too dark to be repeated, even with the honest purpose, not of pandering to an evil curiosity, but of pointing out the snares and pitfalls which lie in wait for the ''artiste'', and of inquiring, for the sake of Art as well as of Humanity (the two are inseparable), if there be no protection against them,&nbsp;– no means for their avoidance?<ref>Chorley 1844, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XiX_AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA188 p. 188].</ref>
</blockquote>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist|group=n}}

'''References'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Cited sources'''
* [[Barzun, Jacques]] (1969). ''Berlioz and the romantic century'' (3rd edition, 2 volumes). New York: Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-231-03135-6}}.
* Berlioz, Hector; Cairns, David, editor and translator (2002). ''The memoirs of Hector Berlioz'' (first published in a different format in 1969). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. {{ISBN|978-0-375-41391-9}}.
* Bouvet, Charles (1927). ''Cornélie Falcon'' (in French). Paris: Alcan. [http://www.worldcat.org/title/cornelie-falcon/oclc/2610637/editions?editionsView=true&referer=br View formats and editions] at [[OCLC]].
* Braud, Barthélémy (1913). "Une reine de chant: Cornélie Falcon". ''Bulletin historique, scientifique, littéraire, artistique et agricole illustré'' '''3''': 73–108. Le-Puy-en-Velay:  Société scientifique et agricole de la Haute-Loire. {{ISSN|1153-2491}}. [[:Commons:File:Braud 1913- Une reine du chant- Cornélie Falcon - Gallica.pdf|Copy at Commons]].
* [[Cairns, David (writer)|Cairns, David]] (1999). ''Berlioz. Volume Two. Servitude and greatness 1832&ndash;1869''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-22200-7}}.
* [[Chorley, Henry F.]] (1844). ''Music and Manners in France and Germany: A Series of Travelling Sketches of Art and Society'' (volume one of three). London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longman's. [https://books.google.com/books?id=XiX_AAAAMAAJ&pg=PR1 View] at [[Google Books]].
* [[Chouquet, Gustave]] (1873). ''Histoire de la musique dramatique en France'' (in French). Paris: Didot. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HfssAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR3 View] at [[Google Books]].
* Clayton, Ellen Creathorne (1865). ''Queens of Song. Being Memoirs of Some of the Most Celebrated Female Vocalists Who Have Performed on the Lyric Stage from the Earliest Days of Opera to the Present Time''. New York: Harper & Bros. [https://books.google.com/books?id=a-0WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP7 View] at [[Google Books]].
* Desarbres, Nérée (1868). ''Deux siècles à l'Opéra (1669–1868)'' (in French). Paris: E. Dentu. [https://books.google.com/books?id=A7U5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PP9 View] at [[Google Books]].
* [[Fétis, F.-J.]] (1862). ''Biographie universelle des musiciens'' (in French), second edition, volume 3. Paris: Didot. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ssmzj4ZblG4C&pg=PP7 View] at [[Google Books]].
* Gourret, Jean (1987). ''Dictionnaire des cantatrices de l'Opéra de Paris'' (in French). Paris: Albatros. {{ISBN|978-2-7273-0164-6}}.
* [[Holoman, D. Kern]] (1989). ''Berlioz''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-06778-3}}.
* Jordan, Ruth (1994). ''Fromental Halévy: His Life & Music, 1799–1862''. London: Kahn & Averill. {{ISBN|978-1-871082-51-7}}.
* Kelly, Thomas Forrest (2004). "Les Huguenots" in ''First Nights at the Opera''. New Haven: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-10044-0}}.
* Kuhn, Laura, editor (1992). ''Baker's Dictionary of Opera''. New York: Schirmer Books. {{ISBN|978-0-02-865349-5}}.
* [[Kutsch, K. J.]]; [[Riemens, Leo]] (2003). ''[[Großes Sängerlexikon]]'' (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur. {{ISBN|978-3-598-11598-1}}.
* [[Lajarte, Théodore]] (1878). ''Bibliothèque musicale du Théâtre de l'Opéra'', volume 2 [1793–1876]. Paris: Librairie des Bibliophiles. [https://books.google.com/books?id=gnw6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PP13 View] at [[Google Books]].
* Meyerbeer, Giacomo; Letellier, Robert Ignatius, translator and editor (1999). ''The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer. Volume 1: 1791–1839''. Madison, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8386-3789-0}}.
* Parsons, Charles H. (1993). ''Opera Premieres: An Index of Casts/Performances'', volume 15 in the series ''The Mellen Opera Index''. Lewiston, New York: The Edward Mellen Press. {{ISBN|978-0-88946-414-8}}.
* [[Pierre, Constant]], editor (1900). ''Le Conservatoire national de musique et de déclamation. Documents historiques et administratifs''. Paris: Imprimerie National. 1031 pages. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MXAJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR3 View] at [[Google Books]].
* Pitou, Spire (1990). ''The Paris Opéra: An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers. Growth and Grandeur, 1815&ndash;1914''. New York: Greenwood Press. {{ISBN|978-0-313-26218-0}}.
* Robinson, Philip (1992). "Falcon, (Marie) Cornélie", vol. 2, p.&nbsp;110, in ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'' (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-1-56159-228-9}}.
* Robinson, Philip; Walton, Benjamin (2001). ''Falcon, (Marie) Cornélie'' in [[Grove Music Online]] (subscription only, consulted 12 June 2011). Also in Sadie and Tyrell 2001.
* [[Sadie, Stanley]], editor; John Tyrell; executive editor (2001). ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-1-56159-239-5}} (hardcover). {{OCLC|419285866}} (eBook).
* [[Smart, Mary Ann]] (2003).  "Roles, reputations,shadows: singers at the Opéra, 1828-1849", pp.&nbsp;108–128 in ''[[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera]]'', ed. David Charlton, Cambridge:Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|978-0-521-64683-3}}.
* Somerset-Ward, Richard (2004). ''Angels and Monsters: Male and Female Sopranos in the Story of Opera, 1600–1900''. New Haven: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-09968-3}}.
* [[Warrack, John]] and West, Ewan (1992). ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera''.  Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-869164-8}}.
* Zimmermann, Reiner (1998). ''Giacomo Meyerbeer: Eine Biografie nach Dokumenten'' (in German). Berlin: Parthas. {{ISBN|978-3-932529-23-8}}.

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falcon, Marie Cornelie}}
[[Category:1814 births]]
[[Category:1897 deaths]]
[[Category:French operatic sopranos]]
[[Category:Singers from Paris]]
[[Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century French women opera singers]]