Thirty Years of Musical Life in London

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

16-19

text excerpt

Among the great prime donne who sang in Norwich during the "sixties" and 
"seventies," none was more deservedly popular than Theresa Tietjens. Those of 
my American readers who saw her when she appeared with Mr. Mapleson's troupe at 
the Academy of Music, New York, in 1876, cannot fail to have a vivid 
recollection of her genius both as a singer and an actress. Then, however, she 
was just approaching the tragical climax of her brilliant career. When I first 
heard her, at one of the general rehearsals for the festival of 1866 (some eight 
years after her début in England), her voice was not only fresh, powerful, and 
penetrating, but it possessed in a greater degree than then that sympathetic 
charm that curiously dramatic "human" quality which was perhaps its most 
notable attribute. Her style was marked by the same rare individuality. Her 
phrasing offered a curious blending of vigor and grace; and she had a trick of 
employing the portamento when approaching a high note, which in any other singer 
might have been thought almost ugly, but in Tietjens seemed both natural and 
artistic. At the same time, her attack was superb. Never have I heard the 
opening phrase of the "Inflammatus" in Rossini's "Stabat Mater" delivered with 
such magnificent energy and such absolute purity of tone. To hear Tietjens in 
those days sing "Let the bright Seraphim" (especially to the trumpet obbligato 
of Tom Harper) was a treat never to be forgotten. 

excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 16-19 (243 words)

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