Part 13 (1/2)
He defined the expression ”register” as being a series of consecutive h.o.m.ogeneous sounds produced by one mechanism, differing essentially from another series of sounds equally h.o.m.ogeneous produced by another mechanism, whatever modifications of ”timbre” and of strength they may offer. ”Each of the registers,” he added, ”has its own extent and sonority, which varies according to the s.e.x of the individual and the nature of the organ.”
At this time he stated that there were two registers; but in later years, with the invention of the laryngoscope and the examination of the vocal cords which resulted from it, he altered the original division from two to three--chest, medium, and head-voice,--and this is accepted by all as scientifically correct according to the definition of ”register” laid down by him.
The year which found Manuel Garcia presenting his paper to the Academie des Sciences saw his sister Pauline married to Monsieur Viardot, by whom she had been engaged for her first season at the Paris Opera House.
Almost immediately after the wedding her husband resigned his position, so as to accompany her on her tours through Italy, Spain, Germany, Russia, and England.
At Berlin, such was her success, that after her performance as Rahel in Halevy's ”La Juive,” she was serenaded by the whole orchestra. Here, too, she astonished all by volunteering at a moment's notice to sing the part of Isabelle in ”Robert le Diable” in addition to her own of Alice, when the artiste who had been engaged for the former _role_ was suddenly taken ill.
Her actual _debut_ in Germany was made at a State concert in Berlin,--an official ceremony, but still a private one. The first public appearance in the country was made at an evening concert at the Gewandhaus of Leipsic in 1843.
Pauline Viardot was twenty-two at the time. With a charming appearance, and already ablaze with the reflected glory of her sister, Maria Malibran, the _debutante_ quickly roused the sympathetic curiosity of her audience to enthusiasm. The entire press praised her virtuosity, artistic feeling, and n.o.bility of countenance, but above all they expressed admiration for her gift of revealing the innermost beauty of the grand musical works in which she lived and felt so profoundly.
They admired, too, that unique talent which wrapped every phrase in the exquisite charm and grace which she brought to bear. For that reason the bravura air of Persiani's ”Ines de Castro,” the final rondo from Rossini's ”Cenerentola,” and an unpublished air of Ch. de Beriot, earned for her at this first concert as much applause as the great air from Handel's ”Rinaldo” and the lighter French, Spanish, and German songs which she sang in the same programme. These last three varieties of song she gave with a national colour so characteristic that, as one of the critics said, ”Elles parurent chantees par trois voix et par trois ames totalement differentes.”
As was her usual custom, she accompanied herself on the piano to perfection. Clara Schumann, who took part in the concert, was dumfounded, and never forgot the occasion. Another musician who appeared that evening was a young violinist, an infant prodigy, twelve years old, who was to become in later years the great master, Joseph Joachim.
Between 1840 and 1843 Mme. Viardot added to her successes many fresh operas, princ.i.p.al among them being ”Tancredi,” the ”Gazza Ladra,” and ”Semiramide,” in which she took the part of Arsace. By the year 1845 her repertoire comprised, in addition to those already mentioned, ”Somnambula” and ”Norma,” ”I Capuletti” (in which she played Romeo), ”L'Elisire d'Amore,” ”Lucia di Lammermoor,” and ”Don Pasquale”; as well as in German, ”La Juive,” ”Iphigenie en Tauride,” ”Les Huguenots,”
”Robert le Diable,” and ”Don Juan,” in which she played sometimes the part of Zerlina, at others Donna Anna.
In 1848 she was in Paris again, and enraptured Meyerbeer with her rendering of Fides in ”Le Prophete,” a _role_ which she subsequently sustained on over two hundred occasions in all the chief opera houses in Europe, being--_teste_ Moscheles--”the life and soul of the opera, which owed to her at least half of its great success.”
Three years later came another triumph, when, at Gounod's request, she created the part of Sapho. In 1855 she added to her laurels ”Le Mariage Secret.” Then came the evenings at the Theatre Lyrique in 1859, with ”Orpheo” and ”Fidelio,” and finally her season of opera in 1861, with ”Alceste,” ”Favorita,” and ”Il Trovatore.”
At the end of a career lasting over a period of twenty-five years, the artist retired, and in 1865 settled in Baden-Baden as a teacher, her princ.i.p.al pupils being Desire Artot, Marianne Brandt, and Antoinette Sterling. Here in her own grounds she had a private theatre built, a small square building, capable of holding about a hundred people, in addition to a diminutive orchestra, stage, and anteroom. In this hall she was wont to give concerts, to which were invited celebrities from every land, representatives of the various branches of art and science, poets, painters, diplomats, and the like; while on more than one occasion the old Emperor of Germany himself honoured her with his presence.
At one of these, Mme. Viardot's pupils performed an operetta of her own composition, while Mme. Artot sang a scene from an opera, and several others from among the greatest German artists took part in the programme. These included Joseph Joachim and Ferdinand David, the latter of whom was at this time Concertmeister in Leipzig.
Antoinette Sterling, who was then studying with Mme. Viardot, sang an Italian aria, in addition to taking part in the operetta. Her hair was let down for the occasion, while she wore a costume in the Grecian style, surmounted by a red velvet cap. This was the only time my mother ever appeared in ”stage costume,” or suffered rouge to be applied to her face.
During this period Johannes Brahms was living in Baden-Baden, and Antoinette Sterling has left a description of an episode in connection with the friends.h.i.+p of the composer for Mme. Viardot:--
”Herr Brahms at this time looked almost a boy, rather short and thick, with a full round face and fair yellowish hair. In honour of Mme.
Viardot's birthday”--(this was in the year 1869)--”he wrote a small chorus for women's voices, and came himself to conduct the rehearsals, all of which took place in my rooms. At five o'clock on the birthday morning, we walked with Herr Brahms through the gra.s.sy fields up to her house, and there, under her window, sang the morning serenade. When she came down from her room, her face wreathed in smiles, every student threw her a bouquet, a stipulated price being given for each of these bunches of flowers, so that none should be more gorgeous than the rest.”
We have seen the admiration which Pauline Viardot had aroused in many composers besides Brahms. One may add to the list the name of Robert Schumann, for he dedicated to her his beautiful Liederkreis, op. 24. Nor was Senor Garcia's sister unknown as a writer of music, for she has been responsible for many beautiful compositions.
After spending some five years in Baden-Baden, Mme. Viardot was forced to leave the town on the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, owing to her husband being of French nationality. They made their way at once to London, where Manuel Garcia was residing, and of the months which they spent there I shall have something to say later, since Mme. Noufflard, the daughter of Lady Halle, has given some interesting reminiscences of that period. When things had become sufficiently quiet again Mme.
Viardot decided to settle in Paris, and there she has resided ever since.
And what of her life in recent years, in her grand retirement? The year 1905, which saw her brother celebrating his centenary, found her in splendid old age after many years of widowhood, approaching her eighty-fifth birthday; living in a handsome house in the Boulevard St Germain; strong, tall, and of dignified bearing, her hazel eyes still retaining their true Spanish brilliance; her voice clear and well-sustained; herself full of vivacity, and with a memory no less remarkable than that of her brother; full of enthusiasm for music and art, a grandmother, with the most charming smile and magnetic gaiety, and still able to add to the number of her musical compositions.
A true Garcia.
One might well be tempted to dwell still further on that wonderful personality, laying stress on her care as a teacher, on her beneficent work among the artists whom she instructed, after they had journeyed from all directions, from the New World as well as the Old, to place themselves in her hands. One longs to paint her amid her home surroundings, in an atmosphere vibrating with music, bathed in art; one longs to show that lovable serenity, that wonderful gaiety and prodigious activity, which perhaps strike one most of all.
This little sketch of her career will be brought to an end by a quotation from a letter, in which one may appreciate the exquisite turn which she gives to every phrase and thought:--