Bertha Schwarz, often known by her stage name Bianca Bianchi, was a German

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...

opera singer of the late 19th century. Her greatest successes were at Vienna.

Life

Schwarz was born in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

on 27 January 1855, the daughter of actors who worked at nearby

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

. As an opera singer, she was for many years a prominent member of the company of the

Vienna Court Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...

, where her fame was such that an asteroid discovered on 4 September 1880 was named

218 Bianca Bianca ( minor planet designation: 218 Bianca) is a sizeable Main belt asteroid. It is an S-type asteroid. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on 4 September 1880, in Pola and was named after the Austro-Hungarian opera singer Bianca Bianchi ( ...

in her honour. Two years later

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ov ...

was inspired by her to compose his ''

Frühlingsstimmen "", Op. 410 ("Spring's Voices," or commonly "Voices of Spring"; sometimes sung in Italian as "Voci di primavera") is an orchestral waltz, with optional solo soprano voice, written in 1882 by Johann Strauss II. History Strauss dedicated the wor ...

'' waltz for orchestra and solo soprano voice, still familiar today. Although based in Vienna, Bianchi sometimes performed in other cities of the German and Austrian empires, notably Hamburg, Karlsruhe and Budapest. In 1894, she married the impresario Bernard Pollini, who had been her manager. She died in Salzburg on 16 February 1947 aged 92.

References

External links

* 19th-century Austrian women opera singers German operatic sopranos Austrian operatic sopranos 1855 births 1947 deaths Musicians from Heidelberg {{Austria-opera-singer-stub