Born: July 18, 1821
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: May 18, 1910 in Paris
Also Known As: Her full name is Michelle Ferdinande Pauline Viardot - Garcia, a highly regarded mezzo-soprano who greatly influenced opera. She can sing both in contralto and soprano voices. She comes from a musically inclined family. Her father, Manuel Garcia, was a teacher and singer, her sister, Maria Malibran, was a soprano and her brother, Manuel García II. Viardot, was a voice teacher. She later on focused on composing and teaching. She married theattre director Louis Viardot.
Type of Compositions: As a composer she wrote songs, operettas and vocal transcriptions of mazurkas by Frédéric Chopin.
Influence: Her mother, who taught her singing, was one of her influences. She was a piano student of Franz Liszt and studied composition under Anton Reicha.
Notable Works: As an operatic singer she sang the parts of Desdemona (from Otello by Gioacchino Rossini), Fidès (from Le Prophète by Giacomo Meyerbeer), Rachel (from La Juive by Fromental Halévy), the title role in Louis Hector Berlioz' Orfeo ed Eurydice and the title role in Sapho by Charles Gounod. One of her operettas is Le Dernier Sorcier, the libretto of which was written by Ivan Turgenev.
Interesting Fact: In 1859 Viardot made her concert debut in Belgium at the age of 15. In 1861 she made her operatic debut in London, singing the part of Desdemona in Otello by Gioacchino Rossini. Prominent composers such as Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms composed pieces for her.
Music Sample: Listen to Pauline Viardot music samples here.
