In 1780, she was hired with her sister Émilie, by Madame Donvilliers, of the Petits Comédiens de la Muette [de].[4]
She was a chorister in 1778, at the Académie royale de musique. She already sang important roles, such as that of Angélique in the revival of Roland by Piccinni in October 1782. On 8 July 1782, she made her debut at the Comédie-Italienne, as Mme Saintclair, in La Fausse Magie by Gretry; then as Alix, in Les Trois fermiers de Dezède; as Aline, in la Belle Arsène, but she was not hired by this company.[5]
She was coryphée in 1784, at the Académie Royale de Musique. She became an assistant in 1786.[5] She came to prominence in 1787 with the role of Spinette in Tarare by Salieri, she retained the sobriquet of "Spinette"[6] During the Revolution, she fled Paris for Germany, then returned. In 1793, she remained at the Opéra; as a singing artist, attached to this company at least until 1798.[5]
In 1796, she joined the troupe of the Théâtre Feydeau, where she created Ziméo (Martini, 1800). In 1802, when Feydeau's troupe was combined with that of the Opéra-Comique, she retired from the stage and emigrated to Hamburg.
^The singer's personal data comply with those stated by the Dictionnaire de l’Opéra de Paris sous l’Ancien Régime (article: "Gavaudan (la cadette), Marie-Françoise-Adélaïde", by France Marchal-Ninosque, p. 804). The website Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia attributes to her instead the names of Alexandrine-Adelaïde Gavaudan-Ducamel and Alexandrine-Adelaïde Gavaudan-Joinville, but both obviously derive from an erroneous mix between the singer herself and two contemporary colleagues: her sister-in-law Alexandrine-Marie-Agathe Gavaudan-Ducamel, soprano of the Opéra-Comique, and Suzanne Joinville (1758–1804), soprano of the Paris Opéra who had debuted alongside Adélaïde's elder sister Anne-Marie-Jeanne [fr].
^According to Kutsch and Riemens, Adelaide was born in 1762 instead.
Sylvie Bouissou; Pascal Denécheau; France Marchal-Ninosque (2019). Dictionnaire de l'Opéra de Paris sous l'Ancien Régime;(1669–1791). Dictionnaires et synthèses (in French). Vol. II – D-G. Paris: Classiques Garnier. p. 935.
