Marie van Zandt (October 8, 1858 – December 31, 1919) was an American

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Early years

Born in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, van Zandt was the daughter of Jennie van Zandt, who had sung at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

and at New York's Academy of Music. She studied in Milan with

Francesco Lamperti Francesco Lamperti (11 March 1811 or 1813 – 1 May 1892) was an Italian singing teacher. Biography A native of Savona, Lamperti attended the Milan Conservatory where, beginning in 1850, he taught for a quarter of a century. He was director ...

, making her debut as Zerlina in ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

'' in Turin in 1879.

Career

Successful appearances followed her debut, including at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

in 1879. However, at that time, it was necessary to make official debuts in Paris. So she left for Paris in 1880 where her mother, who had acquaintances in Parisian high society, managed to introduce her daughter to professionals. Van Zandt, who was only 21, signed a contract with 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 ...

in 1880, making her debut as ''

Mignon ''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. The ...

''.

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and '' Sylvia'' (1876) and the opera ''Lakm� ...

composed his opera ''

Lakmé ''Lakmé'' is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in P ...

'' for her, and she created the title role for its world

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

in 1883, with Elisa Frandin playing Malika. Organized opposition at the Opéra-Comique was created at around this time in an attempt to discredit her; among the false accusations that were circulated was one suggesting that she appeared onstage while drunk. Nevertheless, she assumed a successful career, and the Parisian ''beau monde'' praised her, as for example Baron Alphonse de Rothschild who used to reserve ''loges'' for his family and friends when she appeared on stage. She travelled all around Europe for tours. Van Zandt made her

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

debut as Amina in

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Giu ...

's ''

La sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the '' bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eug ...

'' on December 21, 1891, remaining with the company for only one season. She returned to the Opéra-Comique in 1896 and revived some of her earlier success there, including Lakmé to huge enthusiasm in 1896, and Zerlina and Mignon in 1897. It was reported that she would be appearing in March 1897 in the premiere of Massenet's ''Cendrillon''.Stoullig E. ''Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique, 22eme edition, 1896.'' G Charpentier et Cie, Paris, 1897. She was a good friend of

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...

and used to sing for Parisian aristocratic salons, for example at Mme Lemaire's ''hôtel particulier'', where Massenet,

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

, Countess Greffulhe,

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas b ...

, etc. were frequent guests.

''The Salon of Mme Lemaire''
1903 She married a Russian Count and went into retirement, staying in France. Van Zandt died in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

in 1919 at age 61. Her ashes are at the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figures ...

in Paris.

References

External links

* Ewen, David (1963), ''Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition''. New York; Hill and Wang * Van Zandt, Eric (2003) ''Marie van Zandt ou le caprice parisien'', handbooklib.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Zandt, Marie 1858 births 1919 deaths 19th-century American actresses 19th-century American women opera singers American people of Dutch descent American operatic sopranos American stage actresses Singers from New York City American expatriate actresses in France Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Actresses from New York City Classical musicians from New York (state)