Smyrna times., 1874-02-04
The Great Opera Singer.

The following is an account of the personal
traits of Madame Parepa Rosa, the famous
opera singer, who died in England two weeks
ago. 1t is from the pen of one of the editors
Of the New York Tribune, who was intimately
acquainted with the lady:
OF her personal character perhaps we need |
not speak at length. When we have said that !
she was a true and noble woman, whose pr. |
vate life was filled with unaffected goodness,
and gentle deeds, and homely virtues, we have |
said enough. She was the friend of her au-
diences, and in all the hundreds of cities and
villages of America that she has visited she
will be mourned with unaffected sorrow. Those
who were admitted to her society soon learned
to love her, for she had a warm and tender
heart, and her attachments we're both strong
and lasting. Her manner in private was pre-
cisely what it was upon the stage-genal,
graceful, and unaffected She was as simple
in dsmeanor as a child. Adulation never
turned her her head, though praise (if it was
intelligent) delighted her, and she did not try
to hide her satisfaction. The vexations insep-
arabic from her career never gave even tlnge
of acerbity to her temper. The mixed asso.
Citations of the stage never impaired her dign-
fed and ladylike demeanOr. She practiced all
the virtues OF loving wife, and it was the one
great grief of her latter years that heaven did
not SuueT ucT W DCCOul6 tie mOIH6T Vi UNlUR
child. Her marriage with Mr.. Rosa was one
of love on both sides, and the rosy glow of the
honeymoon never faded from their union. The
mutual respect and frank affection which al
ways subsisted between husband and wife were
charming to witness The most affectionate
relations generally prevailed between her and
the members of her company. Almost any OF
the subordinate singers OF the opera troupe
would work all day and watch all night for the
obo 10 ho 6 o,,1
have known the chorus singers to take few
dollars out of their earnings TO buy flowers on
special gala occasions for the prlma donna who
always had kind word for them and gra-
clous smile. With the principal artists, also,
despite the prOverba jealOuses of the profess
sion, her intercourse was usually cordial and
agreeable. Her best friends however were
chosen from private life, and in their society
she was always one of the most charming of
companions. She preferred small parties OF
her intimate acqualntances to anything like
social gayety she Stunned large assemblies,
: and delighted in informal gatherings of few
favOrite friends around her modest supper
table after the performance was over. AT the
Z opera there were one or two privileged acqualnt
J ances to whom she gave the entree of the stage
and she loved to sit by them at the wings anC
! discuss the performance or chat over the events
u of the time. She was constantly doing little
, to the servants at the hotels in her travels, o.
}; helping some broken down musician. On ont
d occasion she attended benefit performance a
y theater when one of the principal attraction
advertised did not appear. She prompt!
came forward from the audience, aud relieved
"a the bens6ciary's distress by going upon tn
IS stage dress as she was, and volunteering
i song. We have seen her, visiting school
! take her seat at the piano and sing for tn
oh Of IN, as
a. eyes. She was very quick to notice how he
f; music affected other people, and very easil
|. moved by 1t herselt-nOt by sentimental songs
le but by those grand dramatic scenes, like Besth
D. ovens " All, Per6do" and Weber's "OceaT
thou Mighty Monster" which she seemed t
prefer to any other class of compositions
When Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was pei
formed at the Triennial Festival of the Boz
ton Handel and Haydn Society, 10 1868, oh
N had the soprano part in the quartet and th
10 glorious success of the choral movement wa
20 principally owing to her extraordinary, "
! % might almost say inspired, efforts. She wa
70 greatly excited by tho music on this occasion
of and as soon as it ceased she hurried to I'll
: artists room, and, to use her own expression
Or fairly screamed" with delight.
70 Madame Rosa was highly educated, speaI
n, ing and writing several languages with fuenC
~ !. and correctness. She had keen sense
q humor, and habit of close observation, an
- her letters from abroad to friends in tn
nf country were full of shrewd and entertainir
m comment upon the places she visited, goss
y" n about noted persOnages, and sensible observ
-' tiOns on current affairs. She owned a plcasa
-. house in London, to which it was her purpo
+ to retire some day, for the enjoyment of tn
a,s quiet domestic life for which she always had
he longing Her mother, to whom she W
.iv strongly attached, lived there until her dsa
4. in 1870.
IA Probably no opera singer who ever visit
q. America was more universally respected
@ musicians; and we are gratiied to learn that
!, movement is making among the profession
II testify the general appreciation of her chara
noi ter and services by musical memorial servic
bu such as was given in New York on the death
,S. US Mendelssohn.