Blanche Marchesi (4 April 1863 – 15 December 1940) was a French

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 ...

dramatic soprano A dramatic soprano is a type of operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually (but not always) mean less agility than lighter voices but a ...

and voice teacher best known for her interpretations of the works of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

. She was the daughter of Mathilde Graumann Marchesi, a German voice instructor who taught a variety of well-known

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singers, including

Emma Eames Emma Eames (August 13, 1865 – June 13, 1952) was an American first lyric soprano, later dramatic soprano renowned for the beauty of her voice. She sang major lyric and lyric-dramatic roles in opera and had an important career in New York City ...

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the f ...

, and

Emma Calvé Emma Calvé, born Rosa Emma Calvet (15 August 1858 – 6 January 1942) was a French operatic dramatic soprano. Calvé was probably the most famous French female opera singer of the Belle Époque. Hers was an international career, and she sang ...

Early life and career

Marchesi was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in February 1863. She received her education at boarding schools in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

and later in

. Initially trained as a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist, she decided to pursue a

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

career in 1881. Her debut concert took place at

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

in 1896. While opera critics at the time praised her interpretive ability, they criticized her technical skill. As a voice teacher, Marchesi instructed notable singers, including

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

Muriel Brunskill Muriel Lucy Brunskill (18 December 1899 – 18 February 1980) was an English contralto of the mid-twentieth century. Her career included concert, operatic and recital performance from the early 1920s until the 1950s. She worked with many of the ...

and

Astra Desmond Astra Desmond (10 April 1893 – 16 August 1973) was a British contralto of the early and middle twentieth century. Biography Early years Astra Desmond was born Gwendoline Mary Thomson (she would later modify the spelling of her first nam ...

. In the 1890s, she premiered a work by

Cécile Chaminade Cécile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade (8 August 1857 – 13 April 1944) was a French composer and pianist. In 1913, she was awarded the Légion d'Honneur, a first for a female composer. Ambroise Thomas said, "This is not a woman who composes, but a ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Martin Shaw dedicated his song "Heffle Cuckoo Fair" to her. She held a farewell concert in 1938, two years before her passing.

Personal life

Marchesi had two sisters, Thérèse and Stella. Her parents were Mathilde Graumann Marchesi of Frankfurt and Salvatore de Castrone (Marchese di Palermo), an opera singer and a voice instructor, from whom she derived her stage name Marchesi. Her father was a key figure in the Italian Revolution of 1848 initiating the uprising at the Palazzo Raimondi in Milan. Marchesi was first married to Baron Alexander Popper von Podhragy, Vienna, with whom she had three sons:

Leopold Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold B ...

, Fritz and Ernst. After the annexation of Austria by the Nazi regime, Leopold was classified as so-called "half-Jew" and his property confiscated. In 1939, he managed to escape to London via Paris. His brother Ernst was deported to Dachau and later to Buchenwald, freed and fled to the United States of America. In her second marriage, Blanche Marchesi was married to Baron Andrea Auzon Caccamisi.

References

Sources

''Singer's pilgrimage'' By Blanche Marchesi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchesi, Blanche 1863 births 1940 deaths French operatic mezzo-sopranos Voice teachers 19th-century French women opera singers 20th-century French women opera singers French music educators French women music educators Expatriates in the German Empire