MATHILDE MARCHESI (NÉE GRAUMANN; FRANKFURT, GERMANY, 24 MARCH, 1821 – LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, 17 NOVEMBER, 1913)
Mathilde Graumann was born in Frankfurt. Her aunt was the pianist Dorothea von Ertmann (née Graumann). In her adolescence, her family fortunes failed, so she travelled at the age of 22 to Vienna to study voice. Thereafter she went to Paris and studied with Manuel García II, who was to have the foremost influence on her. She made her debut as a singer in 1844, and had a short career in opera and recital. Her voice, however, was only adequate, so she moved to teaching in 1849. In 1852, she married Italian baritone Salvatore Marchesi (pseudonym of Salvatore de Castrone della Rajata) (d. 1908).
It was in this field that she would become famous. She taught at the conservatory in Cologne and, in the 1870s at the Vienna Conservatory, where she tutored Marie Fillunger among others. In 1881 she opened her own school on the Rue Jouffroy-d’Abbans in Paris, where she was to remain for most of her life. Ultimately, she was best known as the vocal teacher of a number of great singers. The most famous among them is perhaps Nellie Melba, but she also trained such illustrious singers as Emma Calvé, Frances Alda, Ellen Gulbranson, Gertrude Auld Thomas, Selma Kurz, Maikki Järnefelt, and Emma Eames. Marchesi died in London in 1913. The mother of Joan Sutherland was taught by a pupil of Marchesi.
Marchesi was clearly committed to the bel canto style of singing. Despite this, she did not particularly identify herself as a bel canto teacher. She asserted that there were only two styles of singing: “the good…and the bad” and argued that a properly trained vocalist could sing the old bel canto style just as easily as the then newer, more dramatic style.
She was generally an advocate of a naturalistic style of singing: she called for a fairly instinctive method of breathing and argued against the “smiling” mouth position that many teachers of her day preferred. She was particularly concerned with vocal registration, calling it “the Alpha and Omega of the formation and development of the female voice, the touchstone of all singing methods, old and new.” She also repeatedly expressed disdain for the teachers of her day who offered methods that they asserted would fully develop the voice in only a year or two. Instead, she felt that vocal training was best approached at a slow and deliberate pace.
Two of the most distinctive features of her teachings were her “analytical method” and her insistence on very short practice times for beginners. Her “analytical method” placed great importance on intellectually understanding both the technical and the aesthetic nature of everything sung, from grand arias to simple vocal exercises. She argued that rote practice without understanding was ultimately harmful to the artistic use of the voice. Most distinctively, though, she insisted on very short practice times for beginners, as little as five minutes at a stretch three or four times a day for absolute beginners. Of course, as the voice matured those times could and should be expanded.
TRACKLIST
Blanche Marchesi In Mai (Goldschmidt) 43754 4136h G&T, Berlin 1906
Blanche Marchesi Dido and Aeneas (Purcell): When I am laid in eath JH9 TTP853 HMV, London 1936
Blanche Marchesi Hercules (Händel): My father! JG41 TPX5376 HMV, London 1937-12-21
Yvonne de Tréville Lakmé (Delibes): Air des clochettes 82334 4979 Edison, New York
Yvonne de Tréville Manon Lescaut (Auber): Eclat de rire BA 28248 Edison, New York
Evelyn Scotney Blue Danube Waltz (Strauss) A-0213 10581 Vocalion, USA 1922-12?
Evelyn Scotney Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini): Una voce poco fa A-0214 10594 Vocalion, USA 1922-12?
Evelyn Scotney Don Giovanni (Mozart): Non mi dir D1119 2-053267 HMV, London 1926-07-16
Evelyn Scotney Don Giovanni (Mozart): Mi tradi D1119 2-053268 HMV, London 1926-07-16
Blanche Arral Perle du Brésil (David) Charmant oiseau rr IRCC 112-A
Blanche Arral Lombardi (Verdi) Quella ivressebonheur supreme (Polonaise) Victor 74146 C6906-1
Blanche Arral Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) Je veux vivre (Valse) Victor 74151 C6904-1
Mary von Ernst Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti): Schwör als Gattin mir ewige Treue 02103 856A Vox, Berlin 1922-12?
Mary von Ernst Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach): Sie entfloh, die Taube so minnig 02103 857A Vox, Berlin 1922-12?
Helene Noldi-Alberti Lustige Witwe (Lehár): Vilia song 31688 B4929 Victor, 1907-11-14
Helene Noldi-Alberti Stabat Mater (Rossini): Inflammatus 31694 C4943 Victor, 1907-11-21
Helene Noldi-Alberti Faust (Gounod): Jewel song 5356 B4945 Victor, 1907-11-21
Sigrid Arnoldson Carmen (Bizet): Près des remparts de Séville 33609 1285r G&T, Berlin 1906-06
Sigrid Arnoldson Traviata (Verdi): Ah, fors’è lui 53467 1298r G&T, Berlin 1906-06
Sigrid Arnoldson Faust (Gounod): Air des bijoux 33613 1295r G&T, Berlin 1906-06
Ellen Gulbranson Om dagen vid mitt arbete (trad) 17215 Pathé, Kristiania 1914-06-12
Ellen Gulbranson Ack Wermeland du sköna (trad) 17216 Pathé, Kristiania 1914-06-12
Ellen Gulbranson En svane (Grieg) 17227 Pathé, Kristiania 1914-06-12
Ellen Gulbranson Vær hilset I damer (Grieg) 17228 Pathé, Kristiania 1914-06-12
Bessie Abott Lakmé (Delibes): Où va la jeune hindoue 88084 C4232 Victor, New York 1907-02-01
Bessie Abott Zauberflöte (Mozart): Gli angui d’inferno 88051 C4231 Victor, New York 1907-02-01
Bessie Abott Roméo et Juliette (Gounod): Je veux vivre 87007 B4305 Victor, New York 1907-03-13
Bessie Abott Mignon (Thomas): Io son Titania 88171 C6237 Victor, Camden NJ 1908-05-27
Nina Friede Roméo et Juliette (Gounod): Air of the page 35088 Columbia, St Petersburg 1903?
Avrelia-Cecilia Dobrovolskaya Rigoletto (Verdi): E il sol dell’anima with Karenzin as Ivanov X-64244 Zonophone, Moscow 1908
Avrelia-Cecilia Dobrovolskaya Traviata (Verdi): Brindisi with Karenzin as Ivanov & chorus X-64246 Zonophone, Moscow 1908
Avrelia-Cecilia Dobrovolskaya Nero (Rubinstein): Cradle song as Volskaya, with Ratmirova X-64443 Zonophone, Moscow 1908
Maikki Pakarinen-Järnefelt Meine Liebe ist grün (Brahms) 43379 638d G&T, Stockholm 1904-10?
Elizabeth Parkina La Fée aux Chansons (Bemberg) 03088 666c G&T, London 1906-06-02
Elizabeth Parkina The little grey linnet (Willeby) 3583 6289b G&T, London 1904-11-30
Elizabeth Parkina La serenata (Tosti) 3659 8225b G&T, London 1906-06-02
Karen Oderwald–Lander Naar du synger i Aftenstund (Sérénade) (Gounod) 116021 KP22 Odeon, København 1912
Karen Oderwald–Lander La Folletta (Marchesi) 116022 KP23 Odeon, København 1912
Felice Lyne Voci di primavera (J Strauss) A5686 37160 Columbia, New York 1915-02-25
Frances Saville Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach): Puppenarie 43240 951x G&T, Wien 1902
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