Pauline Viardot Lifetime Artifacts #1-4

Artifact #1)

     This picture above is an amazing lithograph of myself created by Bernard-Romain Julien.  A lithograph is a type of print on stone or aluminum.  I was about thirty years old when this lithograph was produced.  I had hundreds of paintings and pictures taken of me at the height of my career, but this was one of my favorites.  I think it is very beautiful.

Artifact #2)

     This is a fairly recent poster for the opera “Orfeo ed Euridice" by Christoph Willibald von Gluck.  I sang the title role of this opera at the Theatre Lyrique in Paris from 1859 to 1860.  This was my longest running show in my operatic career.  I sang this role over one hundred and fifty times!  This show was directed by the famous Hector Berlioz, who I think was the greatest director of my time.

Artifact #3)

     I don't want to brag, but this is my self portrait drawn in 1905.  I drew this when I was 84 years old.  This drawing helped to remind myself of the years that I performed; my golden years.  Ahh!  They were wonderful!  I stayed at my home for the last seven years of my lifetime, which helped me get occupied with projects like this portrait.  I was taught basic art skills as painting and sketching in my lifetime which is shown by the magnificence in the portrait.

Artifact #4)

     Ahh!  La Tour Eiffel!  The most beautiful building in the entire world!  This tower isn't just a tower built for the 1889 World’s Fair; it is the tower of France.  France was the country I was born in, the country I lived for and the country that I love with a dying passion!  La Tour Eiffel is the symbol of a loving, amazing France.

Pauline Viardot Lifetime Artifacts #5-7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBRtHtEXHJk

Artifact #5)

     These are two of my amazing compositions; “Aimez-moi ma mignonne & Hai luli!”  “Aimez-moi ma mignonne” is from “Six chansons du XVe siècle”, my own composition published in 1886.  “Hai luli!” is from “Six mélodies et une havanaise", another one of my composition books published in 1884.  These amazing versions of my compositions are sung by Cecilia Bartoli and Françoise Masset.  Please have a listen!

Artifact #6)

     This is the amazing Paris Conservatory in which I taught Vocal for many great years.  I retired from the opera stage in 1863, but had to leave France because Napoleon III came to power.  In 1870 I returned to France when he fell and taught many students, the best being Ada Adini and Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya.  This Conservatory had one of the best concert halls of its time and I fondly remember performing there.  I loved this grand building. I bought the whole composition of Mozart’s Opera “Don Giovani” at an auction and I donated it to the Conservatory before I passed.  This building still stands there today, but is no longer the Conservatory for Music.  What a shame!

Artifact #7)

     This house is one of the oldest in Bougival, France.  It was bought in 1874 by the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, the Russian who I was having an affair with.  It was in his “Will” that I receive this property.  In this estate, I brought in amazing writers and composers of the time.  I used this home as a Salon which was visited by many artists such as Tchaikovsky.  This is the home in which I spent my retirement and eventually where I passed.

Pauline Viardot Lifetime Artifacts #8-10

Artifact #8)

     This is my older sister Diva Maria Malibran.  She was thirteen years older than I and was an amazing soprano.  My father made me his favorite daughter and trained me on the piano and gave me singing lessons.  She was one of the most famous opera singers of our time and I was always in her shadow. She died performing in a church after she fell from her balcony and never saw a physician for her injuries.  She will be missed. I love her.

Artifact #9)

     The piano!  My favorite instrument of all time!  You may just think of me as an opera singer because that is what I’m known for, but I was also an amazing pianist.  I was taught how to play from my father at a young age which fueled my dream of becoming a concert pianist.  My mother didn't like that Idea so she made me stay with vocal and opera.  I somewhat regret my decision of not becoming a concert pianist because this is where my passion truly was.

Artifact # 10)

     This is my father, Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García; better known as Manuel García.  In the photo above, he is in his costume for the role of Otello from the Opera based on the Shakespeare play, Othello. He was a famous Tenor who was in many operas such as “Don Giovanni, Otello and The Barber of Seville”.  This amazing man wasn't just an amazing father, but also a great teacher.  As I said earlier, my father taught me piano and vocal instead of my sister Maria Malibran (pictured above) because I was his favorite.  My father was an amazing man and I wouldn’t have anyone else for a father, but him.