Zaré Thalberg, born Ethel Western, (16 April 1858 – 17 March 1915) was a British operatic singer and actress who was thought at one time to have been born in Greece.

Life

Thalberg was born in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in 1858. Her name was Ethel Western and she took the name of Thalberg after taking singing lessons from the pianist

Sigismond Thalberg Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Family He was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. According to his own account, h ...

. She debuted at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

in London as Zerlina in Mozart's ''

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 ...

'' after training in Paris and Milan. In 1879 her voice gave way and she was obliged to give up her career 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 ...

. However, she joined

Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American actor who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Theatre in New York. Some theatri ...

as an actress in the United States and did not return to England until the 1890s. She acted under the name of Ethel Western. Her photo was found in the pocket of

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

after she died. For many years the picture was misidentified as Nelly Moore, who had died in 1869. Much later the picture was identified as Thalberg. The Irving Society offer no rationale as to why he should have been carrying her photo as there is no evidence that they did (or did not) know each other. There are photos of her in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

, appearing in ''

Lucretia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Governo ...

'' in the 1890s.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thalberg, Zare 1858 births 1915 deaths Actors from Derbyshire English operatic sopranos English actresses