Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

SONTAG SOPEANO 621
was tempted to return to the opera. It was
notified to Rossi that he might retain his ambassador's
post if he would formally separate
from his wife—on the tacit understanding that
so soon as her operatic career was concluded
she should be allowed to return to him: This
he, however, at once refused, and resigned his
post, though remaining on a friendly footing
with the Court. Luraley, then manager of Her
Majesty's Theatre, having offered the Countess
Eossi £6000 for six months, it was accepted,
and in July 1849 her reappearance in London
as Linda ' ' was announced. The curiosity
excited was extreme. Her voice and charms
were unimpaired, and the unanimous opinion
seems to have been that, in the words of Adolphe
^dam, she now united to youth and freshness
the qualities of a finished artist. As Amina,
though Jenny Lind was fresh in the public
memory, she was rapturously received, as also
in Desdemona, and Susanna in the 'Kozze,'
one of her favourite parts, and pronounced by
a German critic the most perfect thing he had
seen on any stage. Her extraordinary preservation
of her powers was partly due, no doubt, to
long exemption from the wear and tear of
incessant public singing ; but Sontag was always
extremely careful of her voice, discarding any
rfile that did not lie well within her register.
Thus, in an early contract at Berlin, she expressly
stipulates that she shall not be bound
to sing in the operas of Spontini
After a tour in the English provinces in the
winter of 1849, she went to Palis, where a successful
series of concerts, also under Lumley's
management, preceded in the spring of 1850 her
reappearance at Her Majesty's to win fresh
laurels as Norina in 'Don Pasquale,' Elvira in
the 'Puritani,' and Miranda in Halevy's new
opera 'La Tempesta.' As Zerlina and the
'Figliadel Reggimento,' she appeared for the
first time, and with pre-eminent success. In
the autumn of 1850 .she sang in Italian opera
at Paris, Lumley again being director of the
company. During this season Alary's 'Tre
Nozze' was produced, and the polka-duet between
Sontag and Lablache never failed to send
the public into ecstasies. It was brought out in
London in 1851, with similar results. During
this season, Mme. Sontag's last in London, she
sang in a round of her favourite parts, and in
the production of L'Enfant '
Prodigue.'
In Germany, wherever she went she carried
all before her. At a concert at Munich she
was expressly requested to stay to hear the last
piece. It proved to be a 'Huldigungs Chor'
—verses composed expressly in her honour by
the Crown Prince, and set to music by Lachner.
In 1852, Mme. Sontag received offers from
the United States, which tempted her thither
with her husband in the autumn. The results
were brilliant. Her voice was strengthened by
the climate, and at this time she could sing in
!
:
'!
C-clef upon the lowest line of the stave ;
'Lucrezia Borgia' and the 'Figlia del Reggimento
on a single evening without over-fatigue
'
Her last appearance was made in Lucrezia ' ' at
Mexico, in 1854. She was attacked by cholera,
and on June 17 a brief illness cut short a life
of unchequered prosperity.
Berlioz, remarking on the fact that Sontag
had less to suff'er than other equally famous
singers from hostile criticism and party spirit,
ascribes it to her having so many favourite
qualities—sweetness unsurpassed, fabulous agi-
Uty, pei-fect intonation, and expression. In this
last her scope was limited, and warranted Catalani's
mot, ' Elle est la premiere dans son genre,
mais son genre n'est pas le premier.' Her success
in certain pathetic rfiles must be attributed
to the charm of her singing. She used to say,
'A Donna Anna over her father's corpse, a
Pamina in the air "Ach ich fuhl's," who cannot
move the public to tears, has no idea of
Mozart.' By her delivery of the short phrase
alone,
' Tamino, halt ! ich muss ihn sehn,
sung by Pamina behind the scenes, she could
rouse the house to the stormiest applause. She
was a thorough and conscientious artist, and
her style won her the special favour of eminent
musicians. Mendelssohn entertained the highest
admiration for her, and she obtained a like
tribute of praise from connoisseurs in every
country. It fell to her lot to achieve an international
popularity and fame never before
accorded to a German singer. B. T.
SOPRANO. The human voice of the highest
pitch or range. Its peculiar clef is the .
but in modem times this has been almost ipij
universally superseded by the treble or G-clef
on the second line.
The word 'Soprano' is etymologically synonymous
with Sovrano, ' ' the head, chief, or highest.
In the present day the soprano is the highest
natural voice of women and boys—the artificial
soprani belonging to the past ; and in women
it is, perhaps, the voice which varies most in
compass. That of Agujaei is the highest and
most extended on record, and that of Tibtjens
one of the largest in quality and power. But,
as with other voices, it is not a question of
compass alone, but of timbre. Many mezzosoprani
can sing higher notes than many
soprani ; but there is a middle to every voice,
which, as a rule, it is not diflicult to find, and
about this the tessitura (literally texture) of
the music and the practice should be woven.
Tessitura is the technical term used by the
Italians to signify the notes or part of the scale
upon which music is framed, and though, as
said above, a mezzo-soprano may sing higher
notes than a soprano, it would generally be
found distressing to the former voice to dwell
upon that part of the scale upon which even a
limited soprano part is written. [See Tessitura.]
Faustina, Cuzzoni, Mingotti, Anastasia