Part 1 (1/2)
Life of Henriette Sontag, Countess de Rossi
by Various
MEMOIR OF THE COUNTESS DE ROSSI
WHETHER in rapid raphy, the life-sketcher or the chronicler must always fain behold the object before hi enius, and that peculiar destiny, which separate the few fro as those did ont to attend the triue the deduction of their mistakes and misdeeds--or, as the ”Satanic advocate” in the process of canonization in the Pope's court, sho much more of a sinner than of a saint was the mortal about to pass into the heaven of huh, thus, well aware of how eration, we feel that there is no fear of transgressing in the present case, and that the readers will rather feel how much below than above the truth we remain
The Countess Rossi is as clearly fitted to be the heroine of athe heroine of a lyrical drama on the fictive scene Those ill read this sketch will, we think, behold in her all the characteristics of a special and elevated nature--one st mankind, fra attributes of a special naturethe obstacles of fortune, and constantly rising in power We behold thee, and next in the highest regions of society, and, ulti to end, the power and the effulgence remain ever the same, fitted for all positions: wherever it is placed, it continues unsullied and undi set forth our claims to the attention of those to e address ourselves, we shall now rapidly trace the outline of the singularly eventful career of Countess Rossi The interest its ularly varied, have always inspired, are now increased tenfold by new features, totally unparalleled in the history of the lyrical stage To behold this distinguished lady return to the stage, after enjoying undisturbed for many years, and in the reatest personages of Europe, is a truly singular and affecting event; but to behold her return, after this lapse of time, with all her powers not only unimpaired, but improved by taste, study, and observation, is an event without an example If, to take the exact measure of this phenomenon by comparison, we turn to the very feere her contee, what do we behold? If asked how so extraordinary a fact happens to exist, those who have had the good fortune to know the Countess Rossi will readily explain it The first reason and first cause are, that this lady possesses a rened, and possessed of unruffled patience; and her feelings, controlled by the itated by those passions which es and courts, and are the erous assailants of those who are the constant objects of adoration
To thesecauses, but of no little potency
For the sake of brevity, we shall only mention two: the first is, that the Countess Rossi's voice is a pure and perfect soprano, of the highest register, from the first settlement of her voices--it is ”to the manner born” Thus she has never been compelled to superadd to her studies of vocal science those efforts by which ed to transmute their contralto or uttural or husky tones, and--alister On the other hand, during her long secession froe, the love of musical art has always remained predominant, and its science been constantly cultivated, without the necessity of taxing her powers, without the exhausting exertions of other singers; whilst her style of singing is that of the high classical Italian school, the only one that nurses the voice, whilst it displays all its melodic power Had not the Countess Rossi yielded up the German school--had she not resorted to the Italian school to reat countryman Mozart did, to modify the form his inspirations assumed--her voice would no doubt have been injured, and she would have lost thatrichness of eance, in which she is unquestionably unrivalled
HENRIETTE SONTAG was born of a respectable fado of the poet, ”_nascitur, non fit_,” is singularly applicable to this great vocalist
The strong bent for music which pointed out her ultie At seven years of age, betwixt her exquisite beauty and her exquisite voice, she was known far and wide in her neighborhood To gratify the nobility of the district, the authorities of the town, or their friendly neighbors, it was the practice of Henriette Sontag's
A distinguished traveller, who afterwards beheld her in all the effulgence of her triurand aria of ”The Queen of Night,” in the _Zauberflote_--her ar a fly on the , or a butterfly sporting on the floithout--her voice, so pure, so penetrating, and of angelic tone, flowing as unconsciously, as effortless, and as sportive as a limpid rill froradually wider and wider, and the _I to the i the assistance of the infant wonder The consequence was, that at eleven years of age she appeared at Darmstadt, in a part written purposely for her, entitled, _The Little Daughter of the Danube_ In spite of her extraordinary success at Dar the fate of infant prodigies when their natural powers are allowed an untutored growth under the artificial warmth of injudicious ad _prima donna_ from the first scene of her successes, and conveyed her to a very distant spot, the Conservatoire of Prague
At the Conservatoire of Prague, the little ers or _Impresarii_ First attracted by her beauty, they were soon astonished by her aptitude She successively won the prize of every class of this great school of hest position; and, placed at the head of the school, she became one of the marvels of the city
Scarce three years had elapsed since her matriculation at the Conservatoire, and she had hardly attained the age of fourteen, when she saved the fortunes of that great Ilorious memories of music, and which would be ie where the _Clearo_ were first produced by Mozart The favorite _prima donna_ of this noble theatre was suddenly taken ill, and so seriously, that there was little hope left of her reappearing for soer, in despair, and at a loss which way to turn, could think of no other resource to retain his audiences than the appearance of the young prodigy of the Conservatoire--little Henriette Sontag Such was her proficiency in her art, that her parents no longer saw the sa to tread the fictive scene
If nothing anting in courage, natural gifts of voice, and intellectual power on the part of the child, as regards the height of her person there was a _mancamento_ of several inches As the French proverb says, ”_le teer, a learned hellenist, was not oblivious of the ave altitudes to their scenic heroes and heroines, and the little _prined for her _debut_ the part of the heroine in a translation of the favorite French opera, _Jean de Paris_, was supplied with enormous cork heels There was a time, at the court of Louis XV, when an inch and a half of red heel was the distinctive characteristic of a marquis, or of a lady of sufficient quality to be allowed to sit in the presence of royalty On the occasion of the _debut_ of Henriette Sontag, four inches of vermillion-colored cork foreshadowed the rank of the little lady, destined to become one of the most absolute mimic queens of the lyrical world, and afterwards a real and er who enacted the pompous seneschal in the opera of _Jean de Paris_ cae than the Princess of Navarre whose arrival I announce!” the applause and laughter were universal When the little prodigy appeared on her cork pedestal, the house was filled with cheers and acclae proceeded, the auditors found that there was no longer any indulgence necessary on the score of age, but that there were claims on their admiration for a voice which, for its purity, its peculiar flute-like tone, and its agility, has never been surpassed The celebrated tenor, Gerstener, who enacted _Jean de Paris_, that night sang better than ever, finding that he had to cope with the attraction of a newthe Princess of Navarre with increasing success to crowded houses Her next part was one far more difficult--that of the heroine in Paer's fine opera, _Sargin_
The capital of Bohe before the conclusion of the season, the Imperial Court had heard of her extraordinary success, and Henriette Sontag was summoned to Vienna, where she appeared, the very next season, at the Gers of Railways” and ”Colossuses of Roads,”
indebted to good luck for their success At the ti _debutted_ at Vienna there existed in Italy also _millionaire Impresarii_, only indebted for pre-einal, Barbaja, the lessee at the saest German and Italian Theatres, was born under the luckiest of stars Since his day, his successors in Italy, having found talent beco talent as it rose, taken possession of it, and worked them until the death of their voices, before they had a chance of theoperas of composers, who strive to conceal their sterility under noise and exaggerations both dramatic and instrumental In our days, to be a successful lessee, you enius, as well as industry; Barbaja, on the contrary, found enius of all kinds at his command to speculate upon Not only were there Catalanis, Pastas, Malibrans, Garcias, Donzellis, Rubinis, Lablaches, &c, in ample number, but all the operas that Paer, Winter, Paesiello, Cimarosa, and Mozart had written, were fresh in the lyrical _repertoire_, and co, and could be monopolized for money In the Villa Barbaja, the palace the fortunate _impresario_ had built for himself on the Possilipo, at Naples, you may, half way up the hill, on the third story, see the roo at a desk, in the costu hieto their behests, like the genius to the laht easily live and rule like sultans, with a Mahomet's paradise upon earth Thus it ith Barbaja With the assistance of the great alchyold,” he thought he knew and mostly had secured all the talent available to his theatre that existed in Europe In those days not only a northern _cantatrice_ was not dreaht that the South alone could produce a great singer for the Italian lyrical stage
When he arrived at Vienna, such was, however, the report of the fareat sybarite of the day condescended at last to visit the Ger his ears, accustouttural discordance of the Teutonic tongue On hearing Henriette Sontag sing, Barbaja was overco succeeded dis immediately applied to her parents, he found in them a polite but e, which they were afraid would lead their daughter to the land of moral laxity, of _Cicisbei_ and _Patiti_, of
”Pasteboard triumph, and the cavalcade, Processions forrove”
In vain he tempted them with an _El Dorado_ in perspective--the conscientious Gerle iota of his wishes The world, to whom she has imparted so much pure enjoyment,--and, fortunately, will now i the great vocalist sing in an euphonious language, in that which land and France
At last, however, after repeated efforts, soh Barbaja's fate was like that of the hero of the classical poet--the Gods vouchsafed but half his prayer Henriette Sontag was allowed to appear at the Italian Opera at Vienna But she alone, of all the great singers of those days, never visited Italy Many an evening the good-natured Neapolitan _Iastrono a dinner such as Lucullus ont to degustate nearly on the same spot, as he walked on his Palace terrace and looked down across the inlet to San Carlo, would grow ht of what he lost by the rooted aversion of Sontag's parents; and then he would anathematize the _Maledetti Tedeschi_, the born eney, if not with a poetry, worthy of the patriotic _Filicaja_--for they, like all the other invaders of Italy, ”never gave her anything but blows and slavery, and always took away everything they could, not leaving even an Iron Crown, or a funeral urn to preserve the ashes of past greatness”
The ie was, however, effected The next season Henriette Sontag was engaged to sing in Italian at Vienna, and reues vocalists of such a calibre, that one of them, ”_il buon Rubini_,” has never been surpassed; whilst all those who have enjoyed the talents of the other, Lablache, feel that not only he has never been, but cannot ist the company at the Carinthia, there was another exquisite artist, as destined, as a reat influence on the career of Sontag, who has now risen so her in the world's estimation than her fair predecessor has ever attained, e, the ht portion of her success being due to her severity of judght broke upon her; with tears in her eyes she threw her arms round her ive her a piano Her wish accoht and day at i her home but when there was a rehearsal for Fodor, when she would hide herself in a corner of the house, and her ears would drink up with enthusiasreat _pri with the old _habitues_ of Her Majesty's Theatre Mada inexperienced _pri for the first time, exclaimed, ”Had I her voice, I should hold the whole world at my feet!”
The Prussian _dilettanti_ e to their capital At the end of the Italian Opera season at Vienna, she was persuaded to costadt Theatre, just opened There she was joined by distinguished Gerer, and Spitzeder She was obliged to sing the translations of the operas of Rossini and of the French _repertoire_, then all the fashi+on at Berlin
Her success, however, was immense Every seat in the house was taken, in anticipation, long before the days of perfor there at the ti it ied to apply to Count de Bruhl, the minister of the ”_Menus plaisirs du roi_,” to obtain an obscure seat at the back of the Court, or of the diplomatic box
M de Talleyrand used to boast, as one of the brightest diplomatic tricks of his tricksy career, that in the settleress of Vienna, he had procured that Ferney should be included in the area of France, which made Voltaire a French recently secured, at the sa's birth-place, Coblentz, added to the ad of pride at her being their countrywoman Hence their enthusiasm knew no bounds