PAULINE VIARDOT-GARCIA.
(1837-1841.)
After the death of Malibran in 1836, the ensuing years of Manuel
Garcia's life were spent in steady progress of fame as a teacher. The
next event of importance in his career took place four years later.
These intervening years were, however, brightened by much reflected
glory, for as the period between 1830 and 1836 saw the triumphs of his
eldest sister and pupil, Maria Malibran, so this next one brought the
success of his youngest sister, Pauline Viardot, also his pupil.
Her first lessons had been received as a child at the hands of her
father, but seeing that she was only eleven years old when he died, it
may be certainly claimed that her brother was responsible for the
greater part of her training.
It was in 1837, the year which saw the accession of Queen Victoria, that
she made her _début_ as a singer at Brussels. This was not, however, her
first appearance on the platform, for she had already shown herself to
be an admirable pianist. Her earliest lessons in pianoforte had been
received in New York from Marcos Vega, being afterwards continued under
Meyssenberg; but the most important part of her study was done under
Liszt.
The German pianist had already made considerable success by the time his
father died in 1827, when he himself was but sixteen years old. The
event brought a great change in his circumstances, and made it necessary
for him to keep himself by teaching. His services were at once in demand
among the best families, and in due course Pauline was placed under him.
Though she refers to her talent on the instrument as "passable," Liszt
counted her one of his best pupils.
After studying for some time she made her appearance as a pianist at
several concerts organised by her sister and de Bériot in Belgium and
Germany. Composition, too, she learned under Reicha, and it was to him
that she owed that grasp of the technique of her art by which she was
able to give full scope to the richness of her own inspiration.
In 1837, as we have already said, her _début_ as a vocalist was made at
Brussels. After this she went on a concert tour with de Bériot, and sang
at a concert in Paris in 1838 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, when her
powers of execution were brilliantly displayed in a _cadence du Diable_.
After these preliminary appearances, which were designed to make her
"feel her feet," Pauline Garcia, on May 9, 1839, made her London _début_
at Her Majesty's Theatre, as Desdemona in "Otello." Her success was
instantaneous: without hesitation the public favour which had been
bestowed on her sister was given to her also, with almost greater
enthusiasm. From the commencement it was conceded that she was a
remarkable artist.
She was a mezzo-soprano, with fine clear upper notes, and a wonderful
execution in bravura passages. Moreover, as an actress she was equally
successful in tragedy or comedy, besides being a perfect musician. And
yet, as Señor Garcia would remark, there was not in her case a
"phenomenal voice," as there had been in that of the lamented Malibran.
It was, according to her brother, by no means a great one, and the voice
alone would in ordinary circumstances have been placed in the second
class.
There is a well-known story of a certain painter being asked by one of
his sitters: "Tell me, with what do you mix your paints to get these
wonderful effects?" "Madame," was the reply, "I mix them with my
brains." So, too, Pauline Garcia may be said to have sung with her
brains.
It was indeed the triumph of mind over matter. With her it was another
case which went to uphold the truth of the well-known dictum that
"Genius is the capacity for taking infinite pains." She possessed the
will-power and determination to rise above all obstacles, as Demosthenes
had possessed it centuries before, when he made up his mind to become a
leading advocate, and, in order to attain greater clearness of
enunciation, spent hour after hour by the seashore, where he would
recite, his mouth filled with pebbles. With what a result! The Athenian
ended by becoming one of the world's greatest orators: Señor Garcia's
youngest sister became one of the world's greatest dramatic singers.
In the autumn of 1839 she went to Paris for a season at the Théâtre
Italien, for which she had been engaged by the impresario, Mons. Louis
Viardot, a distinguished writer and critic, and founder of the 'Revue
Indépendante.' Here she shared in the triumphs of Grisi, Persiani,
Rubini, Tamburini, and Lablache; while her principal parts were three
_rôles_ as different as they were characteristic--in the operas of
"Otello," "Cenerentola," and "The Barber of Seville."
Many tributes were paid by those who heard her. Liszt, under whom she
had studied the piano, wrote of her in these terms--
"In all that concerns method and execution, feeling and expression, it
would be hard to find a name worthy to be mentioned with that of Maria
Malibran's sister. In her, virtuosity serves only as a means of
expressing the idea, the thought, the character of a work or a _rôle_."
George Sand called her "the personification of poetry and music," and
set down her impressions on listening to the singer thus: "The pale,
still,--one might at the first glance say lustreless,--countenance, the
suave and unconstrained movements, the astonishing freedom from every
sort of affectation,--how transfigured all this appears, when she is
carried away by her genius on the current of song!"
Her first appearance in Paris was greeted by Alfred de Musset, the poet
of Romanticism and warm friend of Victor Hugo, in those well-known
lines--
"Ainsi donc, quoi qu'on dise, elle ne tarit pas
La source immortelle et féconde
Que le coursier divin fit jaillir sous ses pas."
When de Musset wished to crystallise in prose his feelings on hearing
her sing, he expressed himself in these words--
"Si Pauline Garcia a la voix de sa sœur, elle en a l'âme en même
temps, et, sans la moindre imitation, c'est le même génie.... Elle
chante comme elle respire.... Sa physionomie, pleine d'expression,
change avec une rapidité prodigieuse, avec une liberté extrème, non
seulement selon le morceau, mais encore selon la phrase qu'elle exécute.
Avant d'exprimer, elle sent."
Again, Richard Wagner pays a remarkable tribute to her powers in a
letter to L. Uhl relating to his stay in Paris in 1859, and to the
attempts to arrange for the production of "Tristan" there. In it the
composer recounts how the same difficulty of reading the _rôles_ of this
work was encountered in Germany, which militated much against its
production. "Madame Viardot," he writes, "expressed to me one day her
astonishment that in Germany people always spoke of this difficulty of
reading the music of 'Tristan.' She asked me if in Germany the artists
were not then musicians? I for my part hardly know how to enlighten her
on this point; for this grand artiste sang through at sight, with the
most perfect expression, a whole act of the _rôle_ of Isolda."
Such was the artiste whose _début_ in London in 1839 was followed by so
brilliant a career.
We now come to 1840--a year made noteworthy in the life of Garcia by
another important advance in his career.
Since his appointment to a professorship at the Paris Conservatoire, his
reputation had continued to be steadily consolidated, and his
_clientèle_ included, besides those who were being trained for the
musical profession, a great number of amateur pupils, among whom were to
be found not only some of the most distinguished names in Paris, but
many members of the royal family itself. Throughout this period he had
been steadily working to increase his knowledge relative to the
mechanism of the voice, and at last, in 1840, he found that his
investigations had reached a point at which they might be found of
interest to others.
Accordingly, in this year he set down the result of his studies in the
classical paper which he submitted to the Académie des Sciences de
France under the title, "Mémoire sur la voix humaine," to which was
added the rather odd-sounding subtitle, "Description des produits du
phonateur humain." In it he embodied the various discoveries which he
had made relating to the larynx.
Among the principal points to which he drew attention were the
following:--
(1) The head voice does not necessarily begin where the chest voice
ends, and a certain number of notes can be produced in either
register.
(2) The chest voice and the head voice are produced by a special
and spontaneous modification of the vocal organs, and the
exhaustion of the air contained in the chest is more rapid in the
proportion of four to three in the production of a head than a
chest note.
(3) The voice can produce the same sounds in two different
timbres--the clear or open, and the sombre or closed.
The memoir on the human voice was duly reported on by Majendie, Savart,
and Dutrochet at a public meeting which was held on April 12, 1841, the
result being that this resolution was passed: "The thanks of the Academy
are due to Professor Garcia for the skilful use which he has made of his
opportunities as a teacher of singing to arrive at a satisfactory
physical theory of the human voice." The circumstance gave occasion for
a somewhat acrimonious discussion concerning certain points of priority
as between Garcia and MM. Diday and Pétrequin, two French scientists.
This was followed up by the publication of the 'Method of Teaching
Singing,' in which Garcia cleared up the confusion which had hitherto
existed between "timbre" and "register."
He defined the expression "register" as being a series of consecutive
homogeneous sounds produced by one mechanism, differing essentially from
another series of sounds equally homogeneous 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 sex 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 Académie
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
Halévy'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 _rôle_ was suddenly
taken ill.
Her actual _début_ 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 _débutante_ quickly roused the sympathetic curiosity of
her audience to enthusiasm. The entire press praised her virtuosity,
artistic feeling, and nobility 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 "Inès de Castro," the final rondo from
Rossini's "Cenerentola," and an unpublished air of Ch. de Bériot, 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 chantées par trois voix et par trois âmes
totalement différentes."
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, principal 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," "Iphigénie 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 Prophète," a _rôle_ 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 Théâtre 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
principal pupils being Désiré 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 friendship 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 grassy 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 Señor 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 Hallé, 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:--
" ...Mais où trouver le temps de faire ce qu'on voudrait? C'est à peine
si on arrive à faire ce qu'on doit! En vieillissant, le temps passe de
plus en plus vite et vous entraîne d'une course vertigineuse vers le
_Grand Inconnu!_ sans arrêt, sans repos, sans pitié. Il y aura peut-être
dans le ciel une immense bibliothèque, où les œuvres du génie seront
rassemblées, et je me promets d'y faire de fameuses séances de
lectures!..."
It is the letter of a moment, but the sentiments, which she expresses so
beautifully, are those of an eternity.
[Illustration:
_Photo by_ _W. & D. Downey._
Yours sincerely Jenny Goldschmidt]