Emma Guilbert, who later became Yvette Guilbert, came from a very poor Parisian family. Guilbert’s mother worked in a boutique and her father liked to gamble and attend the cafe-concerts. The young girl used to go with her father and dreamed of a life in show-business, singing and acting.
When she was 16, Guilbert began working for the Printemps department store in Paris as a model. She also went to singing and acting lessons. Her ambition soon paid off. The beautiful red-head achieved her lucky break when she met Charles Zidler, the impresario of the French music halls, who later became the director of the Moulin-Rouge. Zidler introduced her to the world of show-business. Guilbert was soon on the way to becoming a star.
Yvette Guilbert’s Early Career
In 1888 Guilbert debuted at the Variette Theatre. She later sang at the Jardin de Paris and the Moulin-Rouge. Guilbert’s strange combination of raunchy songs by Xanrof and another music-hall star, Aristide Bruant, with her elegant style, soon captured the attention of the audience and the critics. Her long, black, satin gloves and clinging yellow or black dresses accentuated her tall and thin figure. This made her stand out from the more voluptuous stars. She half-spoke and half-sang her songs while standing very still and gesturing with her hands.
The famous artist, Toulouse-Lautrec, became a friend of hers. He was attracted to her class and elegance and painted many portraits of the young woman. Their friendship suffered when Guilbert was upset by many of his drawings, which made her appear unattractive. She even called him ‘a little monster’. Friends urged her to sue him for defamation, but she decided not to do this.
Yvette Guilbert became a celebrity, starring in concerts overseas as well. She toured England, Germany, and America, where she sang at the Carnegie Hall in New York City. She received a large amount of money for her American concerts – at one stage, she was paid $100,000.00 for appearing in Saint Petersburg, Florida for three weeks. She also became very popular as a private entertainer – this involved giving concerts at private parties. She commanded high prices for these appearances. Guilbert even performed for Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII.
Yvette Guilbert and Historical Songs
Later in her career, Guilbert studied the historical songs of France and did much to popularize them. She was especially interested in medieval songs and she collected many of these. She gave concerts in which she sang historical songs, such as those from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, dressed in the costumes of the periods. Guilbert even gave lectures at universities about French historical songs. She was awarded with the Legion of Honor for being an Ambassadress of French Songs.
Guilbert also wrote novels and an autobiography about her interesting life. She also had a career in films, including silent films and talkies.
The French singer, who was called the ‘diseuse’ or ‘storyteller’ of the end of the era, married Max Schiller, a Viennese biologist in 1897. They had a long and happy marriage. Yvette Guilbert died in 1944.
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Lisa Sanderson - Lisa has been a freelance-writer for many years. She used to write for the topic, British Social History, for Suite 101 under the ...
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