1326) Marie-Blanche Vasnier

Marie-Blanche Vasnier (1848 - ?). French soprano. She was the wife of Henri Vasnier (1832 - 1907), a prominent civil servant. At the end of 1880 she met the composer Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918) and soon became his mistress as well as his muse. Whether Vasnier was content to tolerate his wife's affair with the young student or was simply unaware of it is not clear, but he and Debussy remained on excellent terms, and he continued to encourage the composer in his career.
Debussy was greatly taken with her, and she inspired him to compose: he wrote 27 songs dedicated to her during their seven-year relationship.
Marie Vasnier ended her liaison with Debussy soon after his final return from Rome, although they remained on good enough terms for him to dedicate to her one more song, "Mandoline", in 1890.

- "Such was the case with a beautiful redhead with green eyes, Marie Vasnier..."  https://books.google.it/books…

- "... where he met Madame Marie-Blanche Vasnier, a high coloratura soprano with striking red hair and green eyes."  https://search.proquest.com/…/f3e3d20734f75019f1a75a84ed…/1…

- "But Marie Vasnier, a striking redhead with green eyes and a high, agile soprano voice, returned Debussy’s interest and they were lovers for some years..."  https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp…

 - "Her hair was red to brown and she sang with a lovely light voice to professional standard."  https://www.rodoni.ch/OPERNHAUS/pelleas/Debussy2.pdf