Rosine STOLTZ

Victoire Noël, dite Rosine Stoltz

Rosine Stoltz was one of the leading, and most controversial figures in French romantic opera. After studying at Choron’s Institution Royale de Musique Classique et Religieuse (1826-1830), Victoire Noël began her musical career in Belgium, after running away with Ternaux, the son of a shawl merchant. Engaged by the Théâtre de Lille for the 1833-34 season, she returned to Belgium the following year and married the director of the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Alphonse-Auguste Lascuyer, performing under the stage name of Rosine Stoltz. She was a mezzosoprano with a wide vocal range, extending from a sonorous low register to middle C, but she was praised more for her declamation and her intense performance style than for her vocal technique. Stoltz made her debut at the Paris Opéra on 25 August 1837 in the role of Rachel in La Juive, standing in for Cornélie Falcon who had lost her voice on stage. For the next ten years, she made a name for herself creating major roles, most of them written for her: Ascanio in Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini (1837), Léonor in Donizetti’s La Favorite (1840), Catarina in Halévy’s La Reine de Chypre (1841), and Zayda in Donizetti’s Dom Sébastien (1843). Regarded by the press of the time as the quintessential egotistical, temperamental diva, she was accused of using unfair techniques against other singers, particularly when she became the mistress of Léon Pillet, director of the Paris Opéra from 1840. It is a matter of fact that a number of works were written for her with no other female voices, avoiding any conflict with or competition from other singers in the company like Madame Dorus-Gras, her biggest—and much hated—rival. Her voice deteriorated from 1845 and she was forced to retire in 1847 after a poor performance in the role of Marie in Robert Bruce by Rossini and Niedermeyer.