Elena Verni by Aleksandrovski

Elena Konstantinovna Verni (1855-?); Russian soprano.
Since childhood she studied music and at the age of 14 she started her vocal training with the famous tenor Fedor Komissartschewsky. In 1876/78 she continued her singing lessons at St. Petersburg and in Milan, where she performed in a number of cencerts. In 1878 she made her debut at Kazan as Marguerite in Gounod's "Faust", which was followed by an engagement in 1879 at Nizhny Novgorod. In 1881/83 and 1887/88 she was engaged at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and in the seasons 1883/87 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. She is best known for singing at two Moscow premières: in 1879 she sang the role of Tamara in Rubinstein's "The Demon" and in 1881 Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's "Eugen Onegin". She had a flexible, even strong voice (especially in the upper register) of a pleasant timbre.

On the photo she is seen in her debut role of Marguerite in Gounod's “Faust”.