Joséphine de Reszke by Mulnier

Joséphine de Reszke (1855-1891); Polish soprano.

She was the sister of the bass Edouard (1853-1917) and the tenor Jean de Reszke (1850-1925). She began vocal studies with her mother, who occasionally performed as a concert singer. She continued her studies with Henriette Nissen-Salomon in St. Petersburg and further in Italy. In 1874 she made her debut in Venice in Gomez's opera "Il Guarany". In 1875 she was engaged by the Grand-Opéra Paris and debuted there as Ophelia in Ambroise Thomas' "Hamlet". Here she created in 1877 the role of Sita in Massenet's "Le roi de Lahore". Her most memorable roles were Selika in "L'Africaine", Rachel in "La Juive", Mathilde in "Guillaume Tell", Marguerite in "Faust", Pauline in "Polyeucte" and Valentine in "Les Huguenots". She made guest appearances at the Teatro Real Madrid (1877/78), La Scala Milan (1879/80), Covent Garden London (1881) and the Warsaw Opera (1883). In 1882/83 she made a tour through Spain and Portugal. In 1884 -at the height of her career- she retired from the stage and married Baron Leopold de Kronenberg, one of the founders of the Warsaw Philharmonic. Until her premature death in 1891 she lived on his extensive estates in Austria and Poland. Most memorable was a performance of Massenet's "Hérodiade" in 1884, where the 3 De Reszke's (Jean, Edouard and Joséphine) sang together (Joséphine performing the role of Salomé).