Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
Encyclopedia
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris (January 1797 – 8 August 1856) was an English
actress and a contralto
opera singer, appearing in Mozart and Rossini works. While popular in her time, she was more notable as a theatre producer and manager
. After accumulating a fortune from her performances, she leased the Olympic Theatre
in London
and produced a series of burlesques and extravaganzas for which the house became famous, especially popular works by James Planché
. She also produced his work at other theatres she managed.
in 1797, the first of two daughters of the highly regarded German pianist Theresa Jansen Bartolozzi
and Gaetano Stefano Bartolozzi
(1757–1821). He was a musician and son of the immigrant Francesco Bartolozzi
, a noted artist and engraver, appointed as Royal Engraver to the king. Gaetano Bartolozzi was a successful art dealer, and the family moved to Europe in 1798 when he sold off his business. They spent time in Paris
and Vienna
before reaching Venice
, where they found found that their estate had been looted during the French invasion. They returned to London to start over, where Gaetano taught drawing. They separated there and Therese gave piano lessons to support her daughters.
Lucia studied music and was noted for her voice and dancing ability. She was married at age 16 to the French dancer, Auguste Armand Vestris, a scion of the great family of dancers of Florentine origin, but her husband deserted her four years later. Nervertheless, since she had started singing and acting professionally as "Madame Vestris", she retained such a stage name throughout her career.
voice and attractive appearance gained Madame Vestris her first leading role at age 18 in Italian opera
in the title-role of Peter Winter's II ratto di Proserpina at the King's Theatre
in 1815. She had immediate success in both London and Paris
. In the French capital city she appeared at the Théâtre-Italien
and various other theatres. Her supposed interpretation - reported by several critics - of Camille at the Théâtre-Français
to Talma
's Horace
, however, has never happened. The mistake derived from a misreading of Talma's Mémoires where the actor recalls an episode in which a Madame Vestris - not Eliza Vestris, as she was born several years later, but Françoise-Marie-Rosette Gourgaud
, who married Angiolo Vestris
- played Camille to his Horace in 1785.
Her first hit in English was in 1820 at age 23 at the Drury Lane
in Stephen Storace
's Siege of Belgrade, "and she remained an extraordinary favourite in opera, musical farces and comedies until her retirement in 1854. At the King's Theatre she sang in the English premières of many Rossini operas: La gazza ladra
(as Pippo, 1821), La donna del lago
(as Malcolm Graeme, 1823), Ricciardo e Zoraide
(as Zomira, 1823), Matilde di Shabran
(as Edoardo, 1823), Zelmira
(as Emma, 1824) and Semiramide
(as Arsace, 1824)". She excelled in "breeches parts
," and she also performed in Mozart operas, such as The Marriage of Figaro
(Cherubino), Die Entführung aus dem Serail
(Blonde) and Don Giovanni
. She was credited with popularizing such new songs as "Cherry Ripe", "Meet Me by Moonlight Alone" (written by Joseph Augustine Wade), I've been roaming," etc. She also took part in world premieres, creating the role of Felix in Isaac Nathan
's comic opera The Alcaid or The Secrets of Office, (London, Little Theatre in the Haymarket
, 1824), and, above all, that of Fatima in Oberon or The Elf King's Oath
, "the Grand Romantic and Fairy Opera" by Carl Maria von Weber
, which was given at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
on 12 April 1826.
In 1831, having accumulated a fortune from her performing, she leased the Olympic Theatre
. There she began presenting a series of burlesques and extravaganzas—for which she made this house famous. She produced numerous works by the contemporary playwright James Planché
, with whom she had a successful partnership, in which he also contributed ideas for staging and costumes.
and accompanied him on tour to America
. She aided him in his subsequent managerial ventures, including the management of the Lyceum Theatre
and the theatre in Covent Garden
.
Mme Vestris and Mathews inaugurated their management of Covent Garden with the first-known production of Love's Labour's Lost
since 1605; Vestris played Rosaline. In 1840 she staged one of the first relatively uncut productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream
, in which she played Oberon. This began a tradition of female Oberons that lasted for 70 years in the British theatre.
In 1841 Vestris produced the highly successful Victorian farce London Assurance
by Dion Boucicault
, with possibly the first use of a "box set". The play has been popular ever since, receiving its most recent revival at the National Theatre
in 2010.
She also introduced the soprano Adelaide Kemble to the theatre in Bellini’s Norma and La Sonnambula. A daughter of John Kemble
, actor-manager and one of the theatre’s owners, and niece of Sarah Siddons
Adelaide had a sensational but short career before retiring into marriage.
About her time in charge at Covent Garden, a note by the actor James Robertson Anderson reported in C.J. Mathews's autobiography, says:
Another writer George Vanderhoff in Dramatic Reminiscences also bears testimony to the fact that: ‘To Vestris's honour, she was not only scrupulously careful not to offend propriety by word or action, but she knew very well how to repress any attempt at double-entendre, or doubtful insinuation, in others. The green-room in Covent Garden was a most agreeable lounging place, from which was banished every word or allusion that would not be tolerated in a drawing-room.’
Her last performance (1854) was for Mathews' benefit, in an adaptation of Madame de Girardin's La Joie fait pour, called Sunshine through Clouds. She died in London in 1856.
Her musical accomplishments and education were not sufficient to distinguish her in grand opera, and in high comedy
she was only moderately successful. But in plays like Loan of a Lover, Paul Pry, Naval Engagements, etc., she was "delightfully arch and bewitching." However, many an observer (and Chorley
among them) "never quite forgave her for not becoming the greatest English operatic contralto of her age:"
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress and a contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
opera singer, appearing in Mozart and Rossini works. While popular in her time, she was more notable as a theatre producer and manager
Actor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the company's business and financial arrangements, sometimes taking over the management of a theatre, to perform plays of their own choice and in which they will usually star...
. After accumulating a fortune from her performances, she leased the Olympic Theatre
Olympic Theatre
The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and produced a series of burlesques and extravaganzas for which the house became famous, especially popular works by James Planché
James Planche
James Robinson Planché was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including extravaganza, farce, comedy, burletta, melodrama and opera...
. She also produced his work at other theatres she managed.
Early life and education
She was named Elizabetta Lucia Bartolozzi in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1797, the first of two daughters of the highly regarded German pianist Theresa Jansen Bartolozzi
Theresa Jansen Bartolozzi
Therese Jansen Bartolozzi was an eminent pianist whose career flourished in London around the end of the 18th century. She was the dedicatee of piano works by a number of famous composers.-Life:...
and Gaetano Stefano Bartolozzi
Gaetano Stefano Bartolozzi
Gaetano Stefano Bartolozzi was an Italian engraver, art dealer, and merchant. He was the a son of the famous engraver Francesco Bartolozzi, a friend of Joseph Haydn, the husband of the outstanding pianist Theresa Jansen, and the father of the celebrated actress and theatre manager Lucia Elizabeth...
(1757–1821). He was a musician and son of the immigrant Francesco Bartolozzi
Francesco Bartolozzi
Francesco Bartolozzi was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London.He was born in Florence...
, a noted artist and engraver, appointed as Royal Engraver to the king. Gaetano Bartolozzi was a successful art dealer, and the family moved to Europe in 1798 when he sold off his business. They spent time in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
before reaching Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, where they found found that their estate had been looted during the French invasion. They returned to London to start over, where Gaetano taught drawing. They separated there and Therese gave piano lessons to support her daughters.
Lucia studied music and was noted for her voice and dancing ability. She was married at age 16 to the French dancer, Auguste Armand Vestris, a scion of the great family of dancers of Florentine origin, but her husband deserted her four years later. Nervertheless, since she had started singing and acting professionally as "Madame Vestris", she retained such a stage name throughout her career.
Career
Her contraltoContralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
voice and attractive appearance gained Madame Vestris her first leading role at age 18 in Italian opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in the title-role of Peter Winter's II ratto di Proserpina at the King's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
in 1815. She had immediate success in both London and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In the French capital city she appeared at the Théâtre-Italien
Comédie-Italienne
Over time, there have been several buildings and several theatrical companies named the "Théâtre-Italien" or the "Comédie-Italienne" in Paris. Following the times, the theatre has shown both plays and operas...
and various other theatres. Her supposed interpretation - reported by several critics - of Camille at the Théâtre-Français
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors. It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....
to Talma
François-Joseph Talma
François Joseph Talma was a French actor.He was born in Paris. His father, a dentist, moved to London, gave him a good English education. He returned to Paris, where for a year and a half he practised dentistry...
's Horace
Horace (play)
Horace is a 1972 television play written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke, first broadcast as part of BBC One's Play for Today series on 21 March 1972.-Plot:Diabetic Horace is mentally impaired and works in a joke shop...
, however, has never happened. The mistake derived from a misreading of Talma's Mémoires where the actor recalls an episode in which a Madame Vestris - not Eliza Vestris, as she was born several years later, but Françoise-Marie-Rosette Gourgaud
Rose Vestris
Françoise-Rose Gourgaud , stage name Rose Vestris, was a French actress. She was the daughter of Pierre-Antoine Gourgaud, stage name Dugazon. She married the ballet-dancer Angiolo Vestris ....
, who married Angiolo Vestris
Angiolo Vestris
Angiolo Maria Gasparo Vestris was a Franco-Italian ballet dancer.The younger brother of Gaëtan Vestris, he studied dance with Louis Dupré and became a soloist of the Opéra de Paris in 1753...
- played Camille to his Horace in 1785.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
in Stephen Storace
Stephen Storace
Stephen Storace was an English composer. His sister was the famous opera singer Nancy Storace. He was born in London in the Parish of St Marylebone to an English mother and Italian father...
's Siege of Belgrade, "and she remained an extraordinary favourite in opera, musical farces and comedies until her retirement in 1854. At the King's Theatre she sang in the English premières of many Rossini operas: La gazza ladra
La gazza ladra
La gazza ladra is a melodramma or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giovanni Gherardini after La pie voleuse by JMT Badouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez....
(as Pippo, 1821), La donna del lago
La donna del lago
La donna del lago is an opera by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on The Lady of the Lake, a poem by Sir Walter Scott.This opera was the first to be based on Scott's romantic works...
(as Malcolm Graeme, 1823), Ricciardo e Zoraide
Ricciardo e Zoraide
Ricciardo e Zoraide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Berio de Salsa...
(as Zomira, 1823), Matilde di Shabran
Matilde di Shabran
Matilde di Shabran , ossia Bellezza, e cuor di ferro , is a melodramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti after François-Benoît Hoffman’s libretto for Méhul’s Euphrosine and J. M. Boutet de Monvel's play Mathilde...
(as Edoardo, 1823), Zelmira
Zelmira
Zelmira is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. Based on the French play, Zelmire by de Belloy, it was the last of the composer's Neapolitan operas...
(as Emma, 1824) and Semiramide
Semiramide
Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon...
(as Arsace, 1824)". She excelled in "breeches parts
Breeches role
A breeches role is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing .In opera it also refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer...
," and she also performed in Mozart operas, such as The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
(Cherubino), Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
(Blonde) and Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
. She was credited with popularizing such new songs as "Cherry Ripe", "Meet Me by Moonlight Alone" (written by Joseph Augustine Wade), I've been roaming," etc. She also took part in world premieres, creating the role of Felix in Isaac Nathan
Isaac Nathan
Isaac Nathan was an Anglo-Australian composer, musicologist, journalist and self-publicist, who ended an eventful career by becoming the "father of Australian music".-Early success:...
's comic opera The Alcaid or The Secrets of Office, (London, Little Theatre in the Haymarket
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
, 1824), and, above all, that of Fatima in Oberon or The Elf King's Oath
Oberon (opera)
Oberon, or The Elf King's Oath is a 3-act romantic opera in English with spoken dialogue and music by Carl Maria von Weber. The libretto by James Robinson Planche was based on a German poem, Oberon, by Christoph Martin Wieland, which itself was based on the epic romance Huon de Bordeaux, a French...
, "the Grand Romantic and Fairy Opera" by Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
, which was given at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
on 12 April 1826.
In 1831, having accumulated a fortune from her performing, she leased the Olympic Theatre
Olympic Theatre
The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...
. There she began presenting a series of burlesques and extravaganzas—for which she made this house famous. She produced numerous works by the contemporary playwright James Planché
James Planche
James Robinson Planché was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including extravaganza, farce, comedy, burletta, melodrama and opera...
, with whom she had a successful partnership, in which he also contributed ideas for staging and costumes.
Second marriage and subsequent career
She got married in 1838 for the second time, to the British actor Charles James MathewsCharles James Mathews
Charles James Mathews was a British actor. He was one of the few British actors to be successful in French-speaking roles in France. A son of the actor Charles Mathews, he achieved a greater reputation than his father in the same profession and also excelled at light comedy...
and accompanied him on tour to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She aided him in his subsequent managerial ventures, including the management of the Lyceum Theatre
Lyceum Theatre (London)
The Lyceum Theatre is a 2,000-seat West End theatre located in the City of Westminster, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand. There has been a theatre with this name in the locality since 1765, and the present site opened on 14 July 1834 to a design by Samuel Beazley. The building was unique...
and the theatre in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
.
Mme Vestris and Mathews inaugurated their management of Covent Garden with the first-known production of Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s, and first published in 1598.-Title:...
since 1605; Vestris played Rosaline. In 1840 she staged one of the first relatively uncut productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, in which she played Oberon. This began a tradition of female Oberons that lasted for 70 years in the British theatre.
In 1841 Vestris produced the highly successful Victorian farce London Assurance
London Assurance
London Assurance is a five-act comedy by Dion Boucicault. It was the second play that he wrote, but his first to be produced. Its first production, from March 4, 1841 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden was Boucicault's first major success...
by Dion Boucicault
Dion Boucicault
Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot , commonly known as Dion Boucicault, was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the...
, with possibly the first use of a "box set". The play has been popular ever since, receiving its most recent revival at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in 2010.
She also introduced the soprano Adelaide Kemble to the theatre in Bellini’s Norma and La Sonnambula. A daughter of John Kemble
John Kemble
John Kemble may refer to:*John Kemble , Roman Catholic martyr*John Philip Kemble, English actor and manager*John H. Kemble, American maritime historian...
, actor-manager and one of the theatre’s owners, and niece of Sarah Siddons
Sarah Siddons
Sarah Siddons was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. She was the elder sister of John Philip Kemble, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock, and the aunt of Fanny Kemble. She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character,...
Adelaide had a sensational but short career before retiring into marriage.
About her time in charge at Covent Garden, a note by the actor James Robertson Anderson reported in C.J. Mathews's autobiography, says:
Madame was an admirable manager, and Charles an amiable assistant. The arrangements behind the scenes were perfect, the dressing rooms good, the attendants well-chosen, the wings kept clear of all intruders, no strangers or crutch and toothpick loafers allowed behind to flirt with the ballet-girls, only a very few private friends were allowed the privilege of visiting the green-room, which was as handsomely furnished as any nobleman's drawing-room, and those friends appeared always in evening dress....There was great propriety and decorum observed in every part of the establishment, great harmony, general content prevailed in every department of the theatre, and universal regret was felt when the admirable managers were compelled to resign their government.
Another writer George Vanderhoff in Dramatic Reminiscences also bears testimony to the fact that: ‘To Vestris's honour, she was not only scrupulously careful not to offend propriety by word or action, but she knew very well how to repress any attempt at double-entendre, or doubtful insinuation, in others. The green-room in Covent Garden was a most agreeable lounging place, from which was banished every word or allusion that would not be tolerated in a drawing-room.’
Her last performance (1854) was for Mathews' benefit, in an adaptation of Madame de Girardin's La Joie fait pour, called Sunshine through Clouds. She died in London in 1856.
Her musical accomplishments and education were not sufficient to distinguish her in grand opera, and in high comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
she was only moderately successful. But in plays like Loan of a Lover, Paul Pry, Naval Engagements, etc., she was "delightfully arch and bewitching." However, many an observer (and Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley was an English literary, art and music critic and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics....
among them) "never quite forgave her for not becoming the greatest English operatic contralto of her age:"
Further reading
- William H. Appleton, Madame Vestris and the London Stage, New York: Columbia University Press, 1974
- Kathy Fletcher, "Planche, Vestris, and the Transvestite Role: Sexuality and Gender in Victorian Popular Theatre", in Nineteenth-Century Theatre, Vol 15, no. 1, pp. 63–70
- Clifford John Williams, Madame Vestris: A Theatrical Biography, London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1973