Euphrasie Borghèse (born Juliette Euphrosine Bourgeois; 1818), was a French operatic soprano who is best known for creating the role of Marie in Donizetti's ''

La fille du régiment ' (''The Daughter of the Regiment'') is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti, set to a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard. It was first performed on 11 February 1840 by the Paris Opéra- ...

. Born in Paris with the family name Bourgeois,"Notice biographique sur Mademoiselle Euphrasie Borghese, rédigée d'après des documens publics"
1847, p. 1. Borghèse was a private voice student of

Nicolas Levasseur Nicolas Levasseur (9 March 1791 – 7 December 1871) was a French bass, particularly associated with Rossini roles. Born Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur at Bresles, Oise, he studied at the Paris Music Conservatory from 1807 to 1811, with Pierre-Je ...

and also studied with

Ferdinando Paer Ferdinando Paer (1 July 1771 – 3 May 1839) was an Italian composer known for his operas. He was of Austrian descent and used the German spelling Pär in application for printing in Venice, and later in France the spelling Paër. Life and career ...

. She traveled to Italy, where she began appearing under the name Eufrasia Borghese. Returning to France she joined the roster of the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

as Euphrasie Borghèse, where she bowed in 1840 as Marie in the world premiere of ''

''. Soon thereafter she left the company and began a tour of North America, where she would spend the bulk of her career appearing under the name Eufrasia Borghese. 1844 found her in New York joining a troupe playing Italian opera; the following year she took directorship of the company in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. In 1846 and 1847 she was appearing in Vienna, and in 1848 she performed in Madrid. 1849 saw her return to North America on tour; in New York in 1851, she married Maximilien Hardtmuth of Vienna. In 1854 she returned once more to Paris, where she continued to perform concerts. A silhouette portrait of Borghèse cut by

Auguste Edouart Auguste Amant Constant Fidèle Edouart (1789–1861) was a French-born portrait artist who worked in England, Scotland and the United States in the 19th century. He specialised in silhouette portraits. Biography Born in Dunkerque, he left Franc ...

in 1841 is currently owned by the National Portrait Gallery of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

References

{{Authority control 1818 births Year of death missing French operatic sopranos 19th-century French women opera singers Singers from Paris