Role portrait as Isabella in Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable. Lithograph by Alexandre Lacauchie
Paris: Rigo Frères et Cie; Marchant, [1841].
245 x 130 mm. On china paper. With "Rigo Frères et Cie r. Richer 7" at lower left, "Alex.dre Lacauchie" at lower right, and "Mme Gras. (Dorus)" below image.
Dorus-Gras is depicted full-length, standing beside a cross, her left arm raised and pointing to the right
Published in the Galerie des Artistes Dramatiques.
From the collection of the distinguished American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne (b. 1934).
Margins cockled; hinges to right margin of verso.
Béraldi VIII, p. 288, no. 1. Hall I, p. 380, no. 4.
Dorus-Gras had a rather infamous start to her career, singing Elvire in the Brussels performance of Auber’s La muette de Portici on 25 August 1830 that anecdotally started the Belgian revolution. Upon joining the Paris Opéra in 1831 she created roles such as Alice in Meyerbeer's Robert le diable (1831), Eudoxie in Halévy's La Juive (1835), and Teresa in Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini (1838).
"In 1849, when she sang at Covent Garden ... she was still, according to Chorley, ‘an excellent artist, with a combined firmness and volubility of execution which have not been exceeded, and were especially welcome in French music’. She was not a particularly convincing actress, but the accuracy of her singing and the brilliance of her voice ensured her success." Elizabeth Forbes in Grove Music Online
"Horne had a voice of extraordinary range, rich and tangy in timbre, with a stentorian chest register and an exciting top ... In concert she once achieved the feat of singing in a single programme Rossini arias and Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene, proof of her exceptional versatility. Throughout her lengthy career she was an admired recitalist, singing lieder, mélodies, Spanish and American songs with equal aplomb." Alan Blyth in Grove Music Online.
Item #31390
Price: $150.00 other currencies