Rebecca Isaacs (26 June 1828–21 April 1877) was an operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

of the mid-19th century who was the Directress of Operas at the Strand Theatre and who created the role of Leila in '' Satanella'' at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in 1858.

Born in London, she was the daughter of the Jewish actor and singer John Isaacs (1791-1830), who trained her for the stage. She first appeared in ''The Barn Burners'' at the City Theatre in London in 1835 and in 1836 was in the

burletta In theater and music history, a burletta (Italian, meaning "little joke", sometimes burla or burlettina) is a brief comic opera. In eighteenth-century Italy, a burletta was the comic intermezzo between the acts of an ''opera seria''. The extended w ...

'' Riquet with the Tuft'' at the Olympic Theatre.

William Rubinstein William D. Rubinstein (12 August 1946 – 1 July 2024) was an American-British historian and author. His best-known work, ''Men of Property: The Very Wealthy in Britain Since the Industrial Revolution'', charts the rise of the " super rich", a ...

, Michael A. Jolles and Hilary L. Rubinstein (editors)
''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'', Palgrave MacMillan (2011)
-

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

p456 In 1838 she played the central role of the young

chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a person who inspects then clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combust ...

in Richard Brinsley Peake's ''The Climbing Boy: A Comic Drama''. She toured with the Distin family and sung under the name 'Miss Zuchelli' in 1838. With a voice "of great compass and sweetness", she acted at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

taking the leading roles in English operas during 1846, and was Directress of Operas at the Strand Theatre from 1852 to 1853, and again in 1855. She played in '' The Mountain Sylph'' at the

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

in 1852. She was the first Leila in '' Satanella'' at Covent Garden in 1858. In 1860 she appeared at the Pavilion Theatre as Amina in ''

La sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (; ''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eu ...

'', as

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

in ''

La Cenerentola ("Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant") is an operatic in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera '' Cendrillon'' with music by Nico ...

'' by

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

, as Marie, the lead role in '' The Daughter of the Regiment'', and as Lucia in ''

Lucia di Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...

''. She often appeared in concerts and operas with

Sims Reeves John Sims Reeves (21 October 1821 – 25 October 1900) was an English operatic, oratorio and ballad tenor vocalist during the mid-Victorian era. Reeves began his singing career in 1838 but continued his vocal studies until 1847. He soon establ ...

. Her husband was Thomas Roberts (c1831-1876), a non-Jewish dental surgeon and acting manager of the Princess's Theatre.Clarke, John M. ''London's Necropolis: A Guide to Brookwood Cemetery'', Sutton Publishing (2004), p. 213 She is buried in the Actors' Acre in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

in Surrey with her husband, her infant son Alfred Roberts who died aged three weeks, her daughter Florence Mosely (1857-1925) and her grandson George Henry Mosely (1887-1969). The

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

in London holds two portraits of Isaacs in its collection.Rebecca Isaacs
on the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaacs, Rebecca 1828 births 1877 deaths Jewish opera singers Burials at Brookwood Cemetery 19th-century British women opera singers English operatic sopranos Singers from London