Fraulein Schoen-René Talks of Marchesi
A fact that must be borne in mind by the lover of music who goes to hear Mme. Blanche Marchesi, the soprano, next Sunday afternoon at the Metropolitan is the unique place Marchesi occupies among the famous singers.
She is thoroughly cosmopolitan in that she was born in Frankfurt-on-the-Main, educated in France, married to an Italian nobleman and now resides in London where she is one of the society favorites of the British metropolis.
Fraulein Schoen-René, when asked regarding the place that Mme. Marchesi occupies in the world of music said:
“The great fact to be kept before one in listening to the singing of Mme. Marchesi is the thorough manner in which she stands of the Garcia method of teaching, of which her mother, the famous Mathilde, has stood for so long as on of the most illuminating exponents. Mme. Blanche is not blessed with the same Heaven sent voice that Mme. Melba possesses, but she has been able to become a wonderful singer by taking what material she had and lavishing hard work and the cumulative experience of her mother upon it as well as that of the entire group of Garcia teachers.
“Mme. Marchesi is a delightful women to meet. She is a thoroughly at home in the London social world as she is in that of Berlin or Paris. At many of the most aristocratic affairs held in the continental capitals Mme. Marchesi has been a prominent figure.
“But aside from her social diversiveness she is an all round woman who is whole-souledly an artist. In her home she is surrounded with the paintings of the best modern workers which she has not had to buy because she has received them on account of the esteem in which she is held in by artist(s). Culture is the atmosphere of every room and no matter what financial rank the visitor holds, the open sesame to Mme. Marchesi’s house at all times, is ‘are you an artist or not?’
“I remember the first time that I had the privilege of hearing Mme. Marchesi. It was at a concert in which Sybil Sanderson, the noted soprano, was appearing for the sake of charity. She was to have sung three songs, but she became ill and was forced to retire with two songs unsung. Mme. Marchesi was determined that the program should be carried out completely and she sprang into the breach and sang superbly much to the surprise of those who did not know what her voice was capable of.
“Since that day in 1890, I believe that is the date, Mme. Marchesi has carved for herself a place among the singers of song. She has not confined herself to the songs of any one land as Gadski, and some others have. She has taken the entire music world as her field and has become as well identified with the songs of Germany as she has with those of France, Italy, or England.
“Yet the praise she receives is not due so much to Mme. Marchesi as it is to the method with which her mother has accomplished so much in connection with her daughter. It is entitled to the praise that the great singers have been trained in it, receive. Without it Melba would be without a voice today. Melba knows that and feels so grateful in Mathilde Marchesi, that not a time has elapsed in which she comes to Paris without her going to her teacher’s home and rehearing her entire repertoire for the woman, who though now 85, exerts a mighty influence in the word of song.”
—The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, ”Fraulein Schoen-René Talks of Marchesi,” January 3, 1909, p 26.
See the date? The article above is from 1909. That was the year Pauline Viardot-Garcia asked Anna Schoen-René, then living in Minneapolis with her sister, to become the Garcia’s exponent in Berlin, where she remained until the outbreak of the First World War. A naturalized American citizen, Schoen-René escaped to Switzerland for the better part of year before returning to America and teaching at the Juilliard School of Music. One of her students was Margarat Harshaw, who introduced me to the principles of bel canto.
The technique of the Garcias is not lost. Contact me to learn more about it.
