Pauline Viardot Essentials

Pauline Viardot’s friend, the pianist and composer Clara Schumann, wrote that she was “the most gifted woman I ever met.” In addition to the opera Cendrillon (Cinderella), operettas such as Le dernier sorcier, and colorful, intensely melodic salon pieces for piano or small ensemble, the output of the composer and soprano is dominated by around 100 songs. The multilingual Viardot set verse in French, Spanish, German, Italian, English, and Russian, often matching her choice of lyrics to virtuoso vocal lines and elaborate piano accompaniments. As the daughter of the famous Spanish tenor Manuel García, Viardot was immersed in music during her childhood. Born in Paris in 1821, she studied singing with her mother and played piano for her father’s pupils until his death when she was 11. Viardot studied composition with Antoine Reicha, and piano with, among others, Franz Liszt. As a singer, she gave her first performance at the age of 16 and made her operatic debut six months later, rising to become a great star.