Background
Marie Ismaël-Garcin was born Rose Françoise Marie Garcin in Marseille and studied singing in Paris under Jean-Vital Jammes (known by his stage name, Ismaël).
Marie Ismaël-Garcin was born Rose Françoise Marie Garcin in Marseille and studied singing in Paris under Jean-Vital Jammes (known by his stage name, Ismaël).
In 1886, Ismaël-Garcin was given a contract at the Opéra de Marseille as "première chanteuse légère" and appeared there during the 1886/1887 seasons as Cathérine Glover in Bizet"s Louisiana jolie fille de Perth and Ophélie in Thomas"s Hamlet, amongst other roles. The 1888/1889 seasons saw her singing at the Théâtre Graslin in Nantes. After a poor performance in Lalo"s Le roi d"Ys in April of that year, she retired from the stage.
Ismaël had retired definitively from the stage in the early 1880s and spent the last years of his life with Marie at his villa in Marseille.
After his death in 1893, Marie Garcin never remarried and lived in their villa for the rest of her life. She remained active in the musical life of the city, giving the occasional concert and helping to produce a benefit performance of Ferdinand Poise"s Joli Gilles in 1910.