19th century opera singers

Enrico Calzolari (1823-1888); Italian tenor. In 1846 he made his debut at La Scala in Milan as Lindoro in Rossini's "L'Italiana in Algeri". The next season he already made guest appearances at Vienna. He performed in Madrid (1847/48), Brussels (1848/49) and Paris (1850/52) at the Grand Opéra, where he also made a successful career. In 1856 he sang at Her Majesty's Theatre in London the role of Alfredo in the English première of Verdi's "La Traviata" with Marietta Piccolomini as Violetta. In the long period 1853/75 he appeared many times at the Court Opera of St. Petersburg; the audience of the Russian residence paid homage to the famous opera singer in an exuberant way. He did possess a lyric tenor voice and his most memorable roles were Elvino in "La Sonnambula", Tonio in "La fille du régiment", Nemorino in "L'Elisir d'amore", Almaviva in "Il barbiere di Siviglia", Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni", Paolino in "Il matrimonio segreto", the title role in Rossini's "Otello" and Ramiro in "La Cenerentola".

Fyodor Komissartschevsky (1832-1905); Russian tenor. He studied law at the St. Petersburg University and then worked at the Russian Department of Taxation. After three years and against the wishes of his father, he gave up his career as a lawyer to study singing in Italy with Pietro Repetto. He then sang, under the name "Teodoro di Pietro", in Milan, Rome, Florence and Genoa, as well as in Odessa, Madrid, Barcelona, and even Rio de Janeiro. In 1863 he was engaged at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg where he remained until 1880. Here he created Don Juan in Dargomyzhsky's "The Stone Guest" (1872), the Pretender in Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" (1874), Prince Sinodal in Rubinstein's "The Demon" (1875) and the title role in Tchaikovsky's "Vakula the Smith" (1876). In 1880 he moved to Moscow where he was engaged by the Bolshoi Theatre. Here he performed as a singer and as a stage director as well. In 1883 he retired from the stage and the following 5 years he was he was a professor of singing and acting at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1905 he died in Rome and was buried in the Protestant Cemetery. The inscription on his gravestone reads: "Teodoro Komisarjevsky di Pietro, artist of the Italian opera and the Imperial Opera of St. Petersburg, professor at the Moscow Conservatory and a soldier in Garibaldi's legions, died on the soil of his beloved Italy."

Wilhelmina Raab, born Wilhelmina Bilik (1848-1917); Czech soprano. She studied singing at the Conservatory of St. Petersburg with Henriette Nissen-Saloman, as well as at the Conservatory of Vienna with Falconi. In 1871 she made her debut at the Imperial Opera in St. Petersburg as Mathilde in Rossini's "William Tell". Here she remained until 1884. During this period she sang at various important world premières of Russian operas. In 1874 she created Natalya in Tchaikovsky's "Oprichnik", in 1875 Tamara in Rubinstein's "The Demon" and in1876 Oksana in "Vakula the smith" also by Tchaikovsky. In 1877 she sang at the Russian première of Rubinstein's "The Maccabees" the role of Noëmi. In 1880 she created the role of Alyona Dmitriyevna in Rubinstein's "The merchant Kalashnikov" and in 1881 Agnès Sorel in Tchaikovsky's "The maid of Orleans". She had a virtually unlimited creative power, what enabled her to perform multiple roles in the same Opera: Gorislava and Lyudmila in Glinka's "Ruslan and Ludmilla", Kupava and the title character in "Snegourotchka/The Snow Maiden" by Rimsky-Korsakov, Queen Marguerite and the page Urbain in Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots" and Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Mozart's "Don Giovanni". Among her most memorable roles were Marguerite in "Faust", Gilda in "Rigoletto", Elsa in Lohengrin and Aida. After she retired from the stage she worked at the Conservatory of St. Petersburg as a vocal teacher. On the photo she is seen as Elsa in Wagner's "Lohengrin".

Lodovico Graziani (1820-1885); Italian tenor who created the role of Alfredo in Verdi's "La Traviata" at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 6 March1853. He was born into a musical family. Three of his brothers (baritone Francesco 1828-1901, baritone Vincenzo 1836-1906 and bass Giuseppe 1819-1905) also became professional singers. He studied with Cellini and made his debut in 1845 in Bologna in Cambiaggio's "Don Procopio". In 1846 he was heard at the Regio Teatro degli Avvalorati in Livorno as Elvino in Bellini's "La sonnambula". In 1847 he made his debut at La Scala Milan in the title role of Donizetti's "Dom Sébastien". In 1851 he sang in Paris at the Théâtre-Italien and in 1852 he was engaged in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice. Here he created the role of Alfredo at the première of Verdi's "La Traviata" in 1853. For the season 1854/55 he returned to Paris to sing again for the Théâtre-Italien. In 1855 Graziani returned to La Scala in Milan. He sang the role of Vasco da Gama in the first Italian performance of Meyerbeer's "L'Africaine" in Bologna in 1865.

Caroline Salla, born Caroline de Septavaux (1852-?); French soprano. In 1874-1875 she had an engagement at the Monnaie Opera in Brussels, in 1876 at the Théâtre Gaîté in Paris and in 1877 she was engaged by the Mapleson Opera Company and performed e.g. in Dublin. In 1877 she created the role of Hélène in “Le timbre d’argent” by Saint-Saëns. In 1878 she was heard at the Hofoper in Vienna and in 1882 she made her debut at the Grand Opera Paris creating the role of Francesca in the première of “Françoise de Rimini” by Ambroise Thomas. In 1886 she sang at the Opéra-Comique where in 1887 she created the role of Proserpine in the première of the eponymous opera by Saint-Saëns. Around the year 1890 she retired from the stage because of her marriage.

Marie Sasse (1834-1907); Belgian soprano. In 1852 she made her debut in Venice as Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto”. After an engagement at the Théâtre Lyrique she was engaged in 1860 by the Grand-Opéra Paris, where she was one of the leading sopranos for the next 17 years. Here she created the role of Elisabeth in the (Paris) premiere of Wagner's (revised) “Tannhäuser” (1861), the role of Sélika in the premiere of Meyerbeer's “L'Africaine” (1865) and the role of Elisabeth de Valois in the premiere of Verdi's “Don Carlos” (1867). At the “La Scala” in Milan she created in 1870 the role of Cecilia in the opera “Il Guarany” by Gomes. She made guest appearances at St. Petersburg, Brussels, Cairo and Madrid. For a short period (1864/67) she was married to the famous bass singer Armand Castelmary (1834-1897). In 1877 she retired from the stage and worked as a singing teacher in Paris.She published her memoires in 1902 under the title “Souvenirs d’une artiste”. At the end of her life she lost her financial means and she died in poverty.

Marie Sasse (1834-1907); Belgian soprano. In 1852 she made her debut in Venice as Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto”. After an engagement at the Théâtre Lyrique she was engaged in 1860 by the Grand-Opéra Paris, where she was one of the leading sopranos for the next 17 years. Here she created the role of Elisabeth in the (Paris) premiere of Wagner's (revised) “Tannhäuser” (1861), the role of Sélika in the premiere of Meyerbeer's “L'Africaine” (1865) and the role of Elisabeth de Valois in the premiere of Verdi's “Don Carlos” (1867). At the “La Scala” in Milan she created in 1870 the role of Cecilia in the opera “Il Guarany” by Gomes. She made guest appearances at St. Petersburg, Brussels, Cairo and Madrid. For a short period (1864/67) she was married to the famous bass singer Armand Castelmary (1834-1897). In 1877 she retired from the stage and worked as a singing teacher in Paris.She published her memoires in 1902 under the title “Souvenirs d’une artiste”. At the end of her life she lost her financial means and she died in poverty. On the photo she is seen as Elisabeth de Valois in Verdi's “Don Carlos” ; the role she created at the world première on 11th March 1867 at the Paris Opera (Salle Le Peletier).

Joakim Tartakov (1860-1923); Russian baritone. He studied at the Conservatory of St. Petersburg with the baritone Camillo Everardi. His stage debut took place in 1882 with a Russian touring opera company. He then sang for two years at Russian provincial theaters, especially at the Odessa Opera House. In 1884 he was engaged at the Mariinsky Imperial Opera at St. Petersburg. From 1900 on he also worked as first stage director at the Mariinsky. In this position he remained -even after the October revolution of 1917- until his death in 1923. During his career he made guest appearances in Germany, England, France and Denmark. His most memorable roles were Rigoletto and Jago (Verdi), Eugen Onegin (Tschaikovsky) and The Demon (Rubinstein). In 1923 he died in a car accident. On the photo he is seen as The Demon in Rubinstein's eponymous opera.

Eugenia Mravina, born Maria Konstantinowa Mavrinskaya (1864-1914); Russian soprano. Her singing teacher in St. Petersburg was the baritone Ippolit Petrovich Pryanishnikov and she also received a training as a ballet dancer. To complete her vocal studies she moved to Berlin, where she was a pupil of Désirée Artôt and to Paris, where she was educated by St. Yves Bax. In 1886 she made her debut at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg as Gilda in Verdi's "Rigoletto". Until 1900 she belonged to the great and celebrated singers of this Opera House. Her most memorable roles were Antonida in Glinka's "A life for the Tsar", as Ludmilla in Glinka's "Ruslan and Ludmilla", as Tatjana in Tchaikovsky's "Eugen Onegin", as Marguerite in Gounod's "Faust", as Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots", as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata", as Gilda in Verdi's "Rigoletto", as Elsa in Wagner's "Lohengrin" etc. Because she had received a professional training as a dancer, she also performed very successfully as prima ballerina at the Mariinsky. She made guest appearances in Moscow (Bolshoi) and other major Russian cities. In 1891 she appeared in London at Covent Garden. In 1894 at the Moscow Conservatory she created the role of Fornarina in Arenski's "Raphael". In 1895 at the Mariinsky she sang at the première of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Christmas Eve" the role of Oksana. She had a very attractive stage appearance and was an actress of high intelligence and dramatic intensity. Her voice was described as radiant in tone and technically excellent. She was one of those singer personalities who founded the great tradition of Russian opera. On the photo she is seen as Marguerite in Gounod's "Faust".

Sigrid Arnoldson (1861-1943); Swedish soprano. She received her first vocal training from her father -the tenor Oscar Arnoldson- and from the Swedish baritone Fritz Arlberg. In 1882/83 she gave her first concerts in Sweden and Norway. She continued her studies in Paris with Moritz Strakosch, Mathilde Marchesi and Desirée Artôt. In 1885 she made her professional opera debut at Prague as Rosina in Rossini's "Il barbiere di Siviglia". With that same part of Rosina she made in 1886 her debut in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre and in 1887 in London at the Drury Lane Theatre. The critics described her as the "New Swedish Nightingale" and as the succcessor of the unforgotten Jenny Lind. In the following years she made guest appearances at Berlin, London, Paris (Opéra-Comique and Théâtre Lyrique), Denmark, Italy, Monte Carlo, St, Petersburg, Warsaw, Amsterdam, The Hague and Basel. In 1893/94 she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Baucis in Gounod's "Philémon et Baucis". As a follow-up to her engagement at the Metropolitan, she undertook a major concert tour through the United States. In 1896/97 she made guest appearances at Bremen, Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main. The whole career of the artist was featured by worldwide tours, concerts and guest appearances. From 1912 on she worked as a vocal teacher; first at Vienna for 25 years and later at Stockholm. Her voice is preserved on several recordings made in Berlin between 1906 and 1910. There excists also a private recorded cylinder from the early days of sound recording (1889 !!). For Rosina's aria "Una voce poco fa" sung by Sigrid Arnoldson go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=linp02QM_7c On the photo she is seen as Lakmé in the eponymous opera by Delibes.