Viardot, Mlle. Marianne
(1854–1919)
Viardot, Mlle. MarianneViardot, MarianneMarianne Viardot (B * COURTAVENEL, 1854 – D † PARIS, 1919) Gifted soprano, one of the daughters of Pauline Viardot. Marianne was Fauré's fiancée for a few months in 1877 (after four years of Fauré idolizing her), but she broke it off in October 1877, citing their frail health, his »ardor,« and her desire (or perhaps more truly, her famous mother's desire) for him to become a great operatic composer, a form for which, at that point in his life, he had…