Rosa D'Erina (22 February 1848– 13 April 1915), born Rose Anna O'Toole and known as the "Irish

prima donna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pers ...

", was an Irish

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 ...

, pianist and organist. She was the "vocalist by command to the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Irish court."

Early life

Rose Anna O'Toole was from

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

, and trained as a singer in Paris with M. Duprez.

Career

D'Erina performed as lead female in 1869 debut of

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...

's ''

No Cards ''No Cards'' is a "musical piece in one act" for four characters, written by W. S. Gilbert, with music composed and arranged by German Reed. It was first produced at the Royal Gallery of Illustration, Lower Regent Street, London, under the mana ...

'', first produced at the

Royal Gallery of Illustration The Royal Gallery of Illustration was a 19th-century performance venue located at 14 Regent Street in London. It was in use between 1850 and 1873. The gallery was built in the 1820s by the architect John Nash as part of his own house, to displa ...

in London, under the management of Thomas and Priscilla German Reed, opening on 29 March 1869 and closing on 21 November 1869. D'Erina emigrated to North America in 1870. She was popular in Ottawa, giving several performances in that city between 1872 and 1876. She toured in Europe in 1874. In 1880, she encountered legal problems with a fraudulent booker in Iowa. In 1889, she and her husband sang in Ireland, and toured Australia. D'Erina toured in the United States, including to the remote Ray, North Dakota, Opera House, and to Syracuse, New York, in 1892. She performed on organ and sang in Winnipeg in 1905, and in Minneapolis in 1908. In 1873, Scottish poet Alexander Hamilton Wingfield wrote "Tribute to Rose D'Erina" and "Impromptu Apostrophe to Rose D'Erina", short poems which begin, respectively, "Welcome, Erin's Prima Donna, Greet her with a happy throng" and "Hail to thee, matchless Queen of Song."

Personal life

In 1884, D'Erina married a New York City professor from a prominent French family, G.R. Vontom (1852–1928), Vicomte de Ste Croix, at the Church of the Holy Innocents in New York City, where she was employed as the organist. George Vontom had been born on isle of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

. The couple had a summer home in Ontario, where they helped to found the St. Boniface Catholic Church. She died in 1915, aged 67 years, and her grave is on St. Joseph Island in Ontario.

References

External links

*, photograph by

William Notman William Notman (8 March 1826 – 25 November 1891) was a Scottish-Canadian photographer and businessman. The Notman House in Montreal was his home from 1876 until his death in 1891, and it has since been named after him. Biography Notman ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:DErina, Rosa 1848 births 1915 deaths Irish sopranos