Henriette Sontag


Henriette Sontag, born Gertrude Walpurgis Sontag, and after her marriage entitled Countess Rossi, was a German operatic soprano of great international renown. She possessed a sweet-toned, lyrical voice and was a brilliant exponent of florid singing.

Life

Sontag was born at Koblenz, Germany, as Gertrude Walpurgis Sontag, to the actor Franz Sontag and his wife, the actress Franziska Sontag. Her brother was the actor Karl Sontag. She made her début at the age of 6. 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. 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. In 1825 she was engaged by the :de:Königsstädtisches Theater|Königstädter Theater, Berlin.
In 1826, she was engaged at the Paris Comédie-Italienne, where she debuted in the role of Rosina in Gioacchino Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville. She was also extremely successful in performance in England and Germany in the following years. When she visited Weimar, Goethe wrote a poem dedicated to her. Around 1829 she married Count Carlo Rossi in secret, after which she left the stage until her husband's financial situation deteriorated.
In 1849 she was encouraged by the impresario Benjamin Lumley to perform a season at Covent Garden Theatre. She proved to have fully retained her vocal powers. In 1852 she toured America, and in 1854 performed in Mexico. A day after singing in Lucia di Lamermoor, she contracted cholera, of which she died.
Sontag died in Mexico City, Mexico, and is buried in Germany at St. Marienthal Abbey. Her sister Nina Sontag, originally also an opera-singer, had retired there as a nun in 1844.
Hector Berlioz wrote of Sontag: