Pauline Viardot (; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a French dramatic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

, composer and pedagogue of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García,FitzLyon, p. 15, referring to the baptismal name. Th
birth record
digitized at Paris's ''État civil reconstitué (XVIe-1859)'' reads instead: "~~Michelle~~ Pauline Ferdinande Laurence Garcia". she came from a musical family and took up music at a young age. She began performing as a teenager and had a long and illustrious career as a star performer.

Name

Her name appears in various forms. When it is not simply "Pauline Viardot", it most commonly appears in association with her maiden name García or the unaccented form, Garcia. This name sometimes precedes Viardot and sometimes follows it. Sometimes the words are hyphenated; sometimes they are not. She achieved initial fame as "Pauline García"; the accent was dropped at some point, but exactly when is not clear. After her marriage, she referred to herself simply as "Mme Viardot".

Early life

Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García Sitches was born in Paris. Her father, Manuel, a

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

, was a Spanish singing teacher, composer and impresario. Her mother was Joaquina Sitches, a Spanish actress and operatic singer. Her godparents were

Ferdinando Paer Ferdinando Paer (1 June 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 He was bor ...

and Princess Pauline Galitsin, who provided her with her middle names. Eric Blom ed., Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th edition, 1954 She was 13 years younger than her sister, Maria Malibran, a highly acclaimed and famous diva. Her father trained her on the piano and also gave her singing lessons. As a little girl, she travelled with her family to London, New York City (where her father, mother, brother and sister gave the first full performance of Mozart's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full 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 Spanish legen ...

'' in the United States, in the presence of the librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte) and

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, where she started her musical career. Gabriel Pareyon ed., ''Diccionario Enciclopédico de Música en México'', vol. II, 2007, isbn 968-5557-79-9. By the age of six she was fluent in Spanish, French, English, and Italian. Later in her career, she sang Russian arias so well that she was taken for a native speaker. After her father's death in 1832, her mother, soprano Joaquina Sitches, took over her singing lessons, and forced her to focus her attention on her voice and away from the piano. She had wanted to become a professional concert pianist. She had taken piano lessons with the young

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

and counterpoint and harmony classes with Anton Reicha, the teacher of Liszt and

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

and friend of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. It was with the greatest regret that she abandoned her strong vocation for the piano, which she did only because she did not dare to disobey her mother's wishes. She remained an outstanding pianist all her life, and often played duets with her friend

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

, who approved of her arranging some of his mazurkas as songs, and even assisted her in this. Liszt, Ignaz Moscheles,

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 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 ...

and others have left accounts of her excellent piano playing. After Malibran's death in 1836, aged 28, Pauline became a professional singer, with a vocal range from C3 to F6. However, her professional debut as a musician was as a pianist, accompanying her brother-in-law, the violinist Charles Auguste de Bériot.

Career

In 1837, 16-year-old Pauline García gave her first concert performance in Brussels. She made her opera debut as Desdemona in Rossini's ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...

'' in London in 1839. This proved to be the surprise of the season. Despite her flaws, she had an exquisite vocal technique combined with an astonishing degree of passion. At the age of 17, she met and was courted by the famous French romantic poet Alfred de Musset, who had earlier been taken with her sister Maria Malibran. Some sources say he asked for Pauline's hand in marriage, but she declined. However, she remained on good terms with him for many years. Her friend

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

(who later based the heroine of her 1843 novel '' Consuelo'' on her) had a role in discouraging her from accepting de Musset's proposal, directing her instead to Louis Viardot (1800–1883). Viardot, an author and the director of the Théâtre Italien and twenty-one years Pauline's senior, was financially secure and would be able to provide Pauline with much more stability than de Musset. The marriage took place on 18 April 1840. He was 39 or 40, she 18. He was devoted to her and became the manager of her career. Her children followed in her musical footsteps. Her son Paul became a concert violinist, her daughter Louise Héritte-Viardot became a composer and writer, and two other daughters became concert singers. Her marriage did not stop the steady stream of infatuated men. The Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev in particular fell passionately in love with her after hearing her rendition of ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

'' in Russia in 1843. In 1845, he left Russia to follow Pauline and eventually installed himself in the Viardot household, treated her four children as his own, and adored her until he died. She, in turn, critiqued his work and through her connections and social abilities, presented him in the best light whenever they were in public. The exact status of their relationship is a matter of debate. Other men closely linked to her included the composers

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

(she created the title role in his opera '' Sapho'') and

(who initially had her in mind for the role of Dido in '' Les Troyens'', but changed his mind, which led to a cooling of his relations with the Viardots). Renowned for her wide vocal range and her dramatic roles on stage, Viardot gave performances that inspired composers such as

, Berlioz,

(who dedicated '' Samson and Delilah'' to her, and wanted her to sing the title role, but she declined on account of her age), and

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart and Richard Wa ...

, for whom she created Fidès in '' Le prophète''. She spoke fluent Spanish, French, Italian, English, German, and Russian, and composed songs in a variety of national techniques. Her career took her to the best music halls across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and from 1843 to 1846 she was permanently attached to the Opera in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia. She spent many happy hours at

's home at Nohant, with Sand and her lover

. She was given expert advice by Chopin on her piano playing, her vocal compositions, and her arrangements of some of his mazurkas as songs. He in turn derived from her some firsthand knowledge about Spanish music. In July 1847, Sand's and Chopin's relationship came to an end. Viardot tried to heal the rift and get the two back together, but to no avail. She arranged instrumental works by

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

and

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

as songs. She was the mezzo-soprano in the Tuba mirum movement of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's '' Requiem'' at Chopin's funeral at Église de la Madeleine in Paris on 30 October 1849, which she performed together with a soprano, incognito behind a black curtain. She sang the title role of Gluck's opera '' Orphée et Eurydice'' at Théâtre Lyrique in Paris in November 1859, directed by Hector Berlioz who arranged the opera, and she sang this role over 150 times. She was well acquainted with Jenny Lind, the Swedish soprano and philanthropist, who had been a student of her brother. A notable remark of hers was made to the English soprano Adelaide Kemble when they attended the late concert in London by the great Italian soprano Giuditta Pasta, who was clearly past her prime. Asked by Kemble what she thought of the voice, she replied 'Ah! It is a ruin, but then so is Leonardo's '' Last Supper. In 1863, Pauline Viardot retired from the stage. She and her family left France due to her husband's public opposition to Emperor Napoleon III and settled in

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

, Germany. In 1870, however,

persuaded her to sing in the first public performance of his '' Alto Rhapsody'', at Jena. Salon of Pauline Viardot - Gallica

After the fall of Napoleon III later in 1870, they returned to France, where she taught at the Paris Conservatory and, until her husband's death in 1883, presided over a music salon in the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Her students included Ada Adini,

Désirée Artôt Désirée Artôt (; 21 July 1835 – 3 April 1907) was a Belgian soprano (initially a mezzo-soprano), who was famed in German and Italian opera and sang mainly in Germany. In 1868 she was engaged, briefly, to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who may h ...

, Selma Ek, Emma Engdahl-Jägerskiöld, Marie Hanfstängl, Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya, Felia Litvinne, Emilie Mechelin, Aglaja Orgeni, Anna Eugénie Schoen-René, Mafalda Salvatini, Raimund von zur-Mühlen, and Maria Wilhelmj. () Her pupil Natalia Iretskaya later became the teacher of Oda Slobodskaya and of Lydia Lipkowska, who in turn taught Virginia Zeani. She was also the godmother of Artôt's daughter Lola Artôt de Padilla. In 1877, her daughter Marianne was briefly engaged to Gabriel Fauré, but she later married composer Alphonse Duvernoy. On 11 April 1873 she appeared at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris in the first performance of

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

's oratorio '' Marie-Magdeleine''. From the mid-1840s, until her retirement, she was renowned for her appearances in Mozart's opera ''

'', an opera with which her family had long been associated (see "Early life" above). In 1855, she had purchased Mozart's original manuscript of the opera in London. She preserved it in a shrine in her Paris home, where it was visited by many notable people, including Rossini, who genuflected, and Tchaikovsky, who said he was "in the presence of divinity". It was displayed at the Exposition Universelle of 1878, and at the centenary exhibition of ''Don Giovannis premiere in 1887. In 1889 she announced she would donate it to the Conservatoire de Paris, and this occurred in 1892.

Death

In 1910, Pauline Viardot died, aged 88. Her body is interred in the Montmartre Cemetery, Paris, France. The Villa Viardot in Bougival, near Paris, was a gift to the Viardots by Ivan Turgenev in 1874.

Compositions

Viardot began composing when she was young, but it was never her intention to become a composer. Her compositions were written mainly as private pieces for her students with the intention of developing their vocal abilities. She did the bulk of her composing after her retirement at

. However, her works were of professional quality and

declared that, with Pauline Viardot, the world had finally found a woman composer of genius. Having as a young girl studied with Liszt and with the music theorist and composer Anton Reicha, she was both an outstanding pianist and a complete all-around professional musician. Between 1864 and 1874 she wrote three salon operas – ''Trop de femmes'' (1867), ''L'ogre'' (1868), and '' Le dernier sorcier'' (1869), all to libretti by Ivan Turgenev – and over fifty ''Lieder''. Her remaining two salon operas – ''Le conte de fées'' (1879), and '' Cendrillon'' (1904, when she was 83) – were to her own libretti. The operas may be small in scale; however, they were written for advanced singers and some of the music is difficult. Opera * ''Trop de femmes'' (libretto by Ivan Turgenev, 1867) * ''L'ogre'' (Turgenev, 1868) * '' Le dernier sorcier'' (Turgenev, 1869) * ''Le conte de fées'' (own libretto, 1879) * '' Cendrillon'' (own libretto, 1904) Choral * ''Choeur bohémien'' * ''Choeur des elfes'' * ''Choeur de fileuses'' * ''La Jeune République'' Songs * ''Album de Mme Viardot-Garcia'' (1843) * ''L'Oiseau d'or'' (1843) * ''12 Mazurkas for voice and piano'' – based on

's works (1848) * ''Duo'', 2 solo voices and piano (1874) * ''100 songs'' including ''5 Gedichte'' (1874) * ''4 Lieder'' (1880) * ''5 Poésies toscanes-paroles'' by L. Pomey (1881) * ''6 Mélodies'' (1884) * ''Airs italiens du XVIII siècle'' (trans. L. Pomey) (1886) * ''6 chansons du XVe siècle'' * ''Album russe'' * ''Canti popolari toscani'' * Vocal arrangements of instrumental works by

and

Instrumental * ''2 airs de ballet'' for piano (1885) * ''Défilé bohémien'' for piano 4 hands (1885) * ''Introduction et polonaise'' for piano 4 hands (1874) * ''Marche militaire'' for 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 brass choirs (1868) * ''Mazourke'' for piano (1868) * ''6 morceaux'' for violin and piano (1868) * ''Second album russe'' for piano (1874) * Sonatine for violin and piano (1874) * ''Suite arménienne'' for piano for four hands Source: Rachel M. Harris, ''The Music Salon of Pauline Viardot''

In popular culture

Viardot is a character in Alexander Chee's 2016 novel ''The Queen of the Night'', appearing in her retirement at Baden-Baden as a teacher and mentor to the fictional narrator. A three-act opera based on Viardot's life, ''Notes on Viardot'', with libretto and score by American composer Michael Ching, premiered in 2024. The story is told in flashbacks as a journalist interviews Viardot near the end of her life, and within Ching's original compositions the music weaves in songs and melodies from Viardot's own compositions plus arias she sang during her career.

Genealogy

Notes

References

* * Harris, Rachel M. (2005). ''The Music Salon of Pauline Viardot: Featuring her Salon Opera ''Cendrillon. Ph.D. thesis. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University.
Electronic copy
* Kendall-Davies, Barbara (2003). ''The Life and Work of Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Vol. 1, The Years of Fame, 1836–1863''. Amersham: Cambridge Scholars. . * Kendall-Davies, Barbara (2012). ''The Life and Work of Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Vol. 2, The Years of Grace, 1863–1910''. Amersham: Cambridge Scholars. . * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre (July 2000). "Correspondance de Pauline Viardot avec Éline Biarga, avec photos" ("Étude", n°14, juillet-août-septembre 2000, Association internationale de chant lyrique TITTA RUFFO, Marseille, France
Site: titta-ruffo-international.jimdo.com
* Steen, Michael (2007). ''Enchantress of Nations. Pauline Viardot: Soprano, Muse and Lover''. Thriplow: Icon. . * Borchard, Beatrix (2016). ''Pauline Viardot-Garcia: Fülle des Lebens''. Köln: Böhlau Verlag. . * Borchard, Beatrix / Wigers, Miriam-Alexandra Wigbers (Ed.) (2021). ''Pauline Viardot-Garcia – Julius Rietz. Der Briefwechsel 1858–1874''. Unter Mitarbeit von Juliette Appold, Regina Back, Martina Bick und Melanie Stier (= Viardot-Garcia-Studien 1). Hildesheim: Olms. .

External links

''Lettres à Madame Viardot'', by Ivan Turgenev (fr)

Pauline Viardot-Garcia papers
– guide to the musician's personal papers and scores in the Houghton Library at Harvard University. *

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110719042547/http://mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de/Viardot/index.html Multimediale Präsentation Pauline Viardot
Lexikalischer Artikel zu Pauline Viardot bei MUGI – "Musik und Gender im Internet".

DFG-gefördertes Forschungsprojekt "Orte und Wege europäischer Kulturvermittlung durch Musik. Die Sängerin und Komponistin Pauline Viardot"
* Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris, Portrait painted by Ary Scheffer
"Pauline Viardot. Systematisch-bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis (VWV)" by Christin Heitmann
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Viardot, Pauline 1821 births 1910 deaths French women classical composers French operatic mezzo-sopranos French people of Spanish descent French Romantic composers French opera composers Women opera composers Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Musicians from Paris Pupils of Frédéric Chopin Pupils of Anton Reicha 19th-century French women opera singers 19th-century French women composers