stoltz, Rosine (real name, Victoire Noël)

Stoltz, Rosine (real name, Victoire Noël), famous French mezzo-soprano; b. Paris, Feb. 13, 1815; d. there, July 28, 1903. She was the daughter of a janitor, and was sent by Duchess de Berri to a convent, and in 1826 to the Choron School, which she entered under the name of Rosine Niva; it was under that name that she began her career as a concert artist; then used the name of Mile. Ternaux, and later Mlle. Héloise Stoltz (the latter being derived from her mother’s maiden name, Stoll). In 1832 she made her stage debut as Victoire Ternaux at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels; after appearances in Spa, Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Lille, she obtained her first important engagement as Alice in Robert le diable at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels in 1835; the next year she sang Rachel in La juive there, and in 1837 married Alphonse Lescuyer, the theater’s director. She made her debut at the Paris Opéra as Rachel on Aug. 25, 1837; subsequently appeared there in many premieres, including operas by Halévy; also created the roles of Ascanio in Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini (Sept. 3, 1838), and Léonore in La Favorite (Dec. 2, 1840) and Zaida in Dom Sébastien (Nov. 13, 1843), both by Donizetti. She became intimate with Leon Pillet, manager of the Opéra from 1844, and through him wielded considerable influence on appointments of new singers; after a series of attacks in the press, accusing her of unworthy intrigues, she resigned in March 1847. She fought for vindication through 3 obviously inspired pamphlets (C. Cantinjou, Les Adieux de Madame Stoltz; E. Perignon, Rosine Stoltz; and J. Lemer, Madame Rosine Stoltz), all pubi, in 1847. At the invitation of the Brazilian Emperor Don Pedro (who was romantically attached to her) she made 4 tours of Brazil between 1850 and 1859, at a salary of 400, 000 francs a season. In 1854 and 1855 she once again sang at the Paris Opéra. In 1860 she made her farewell operatic appearance in Lyons, and then sang in concerts for several seasons before retiring. Ernst II of Württemberg named her Baroness Stoltzenau and Countess of Ketschendorf in 1865. She subsequently was made Duchess of Lesignano upon her marriage to Duke Carlo Lesignano in 1872, and then married the Spanish prince Manuel Godoi Bassano de la Paix in 1878. She publ. 6 songs (not composed by her, in all probability), and her name (as Princesse de Lesignano) was used as author of a learned vol., Les Constitutions de tous les pays civilisés (1880), which was written in her behalf. The mystifying aspects of her private life and public career are recounted by G. Bord in Rosine Stoltz (Paris, 1909) and by A. Pougin in “La Vérité sur Madame Stoltz,” Le Ménestrel (Aug. 28, 1909, et seq.).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire