Henriette Sontag

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Henriette Sontag (3 January 1806 - 17 June 1854) was a German operatic soprano of great international renown.

[edit] Biography

Sontag was born at Coblenz as Gertrude Walpurgis Sonntag. She made her début at the age of 15.

In 1823 she sang at Leipzig in Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz and in December of that year created the title role in his Euryanthe. Her success was immediate, and in 1824 she went to the Königstädter Theater, Berlin.

She was invited to be the soprano soloist in the first performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Missa Solemnis on 7 May 1824; she was only 18 years old at the time.

Two years later she sang the part of Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, in which her coloratura power gave her a distinct triumph over Catalani.

In 1827 she was engaged at the Paris Italian opera, and a year later married Count Rossi. She sang in all the musical centres of Europe, and in 1852 visited the United States where she performed in concert with Camilla Urso.

In 1854 she was engaged for the Italian opera in Mexico, but was stricken there with cholera and died at the age of 48. Her last appearance, six days before her death, was in the title role of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia.

[edit] Publications

• W. Berger, Berühmte Frauen (Berlin, 1904)

• This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
• This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.