Posted 8 years ago
endeeringl…
(40 items)
so... i may need some help on this one.
to me, it's almost too much of a coincidence how much this beauty looks like Pauline Lucca, the Austrian soprano who began singing at just eight years old. i am put off, however, by the studio, since i haven't seen a US studio credited on any backstamps of other photos of her. even if the mystery can't be solved, i'm happy to have such a beauty in my collection!
***SOLVED: it's her! (thanks, celiene)
here's a snippet about this wonderful soprano (only found a detailed one on good 'ol wikipedia):
"Pauline Lucca (April 25, 1841 – February 28, 1908) was a prominent operatic soprano, born in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
As a child she showed a remarkable talent for singing and at eight years old became a voice student of M. Walter. Not too long after her parents lost all their property, forcing her to abandon her studies. She continued her education as a young teenager with Otto Uschmann and Richard Lewy in Vienna, but was too poor to continue her studies and so joined the chorus of the Vienna State Opera in 1856.
In 1859, she made her début at Olmütz as Elvira in Ernani. She then sang for a while in Prague and in 1861, having attracted the attention of Meyerbeer, obtained an engagement at the Berlin State Opera, where her success was absolute for years. In 1863 Lucca made her first appearance in England, which country, as well as France and Russia, she subsequently visited often. Meyerbeer and Auber considered her unequaled, and the latter was so struck by her interpretation of the part of Zerlina in Fra Diavolo that he gave her the pen with which he had written the opera.
Lucca had a notorious rivalry with soprano Mathilde Mallinger while in Berlin. The conflict between the two extended among their fans as well, with supporters of Mallinger and supporters of Lucca heckling one another. The tension came to a climax on 27 January 1872 in a performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in which Mallinger sang the Countess and Lucca portrayed Cherubino. During the performance, supporters of Mallinger booed Lucca so severely that she was prevented from singing her aria. So upset by this event, Lucca broke her contract with the opera house and left the German capital to tour the United States for two years where she was received enthusiastically, especially in New York City. She spent the summer of 1872 in Kingston, Rhode Island.[1] While in the United States she divorced the Prussian Baron Adolphe Von Rhaden, whom she had married in 1865.[2] She married the Baron von Wallhoffen on 12 June 1873.[3] From 1874 to 1889, she was a member of the Vienna State Opera. She died February 28, 1908."
(these images are NOT for use or re-posting anywhere unless permission by me is granted)
It's her, looking at other photos online. Same mouth & incredibly light eyes. She debuted in Chicago in 1873, playing Maria in the opera "The Daughter Of The Regiment".
https://books.google.com/books?id=HpQPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA358&lpg=PA358&dq=pauline+lucca+chicago&source=bl&ots=qR-p8L7Yqg&sig=Nc47jaoOeq_MYLrW9zvRwZRDRiU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirwqCw-f7QAhUUz2MKHUmMAC8Q6AEINzAG#v=onepage&q=pauline%20lucca%20chicago&f=false
This book says 1873 Chicago debut was in "Favorita" .
https://books.google.com/books?id=Dco5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=pauline+lucca+chicago&source=bl&ots=QE4iF_IAcX&sig=L0PG_oWLOR8GDg4rd9ETCFP_3P8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirwqCw-f7QAhUUz2MKHUmMAC8Q6AEINDAF#v=onepage&q=pauline%20lucca%20chicago&f=false
Henry Rocher was famous for photographing stars of Broadway & beyond.
http://broadway.cas.sc.edu/content/henry-rocher
"In respect to expression, Rocher was widely viewed as the most artistic portrait photographer of the 1870s, rivaled only by Sarony, whose strength was posing. His abilities earned him exhibition gold medals in Vienna, Amsterdam, London, New York, and Philadelphia in the 1870s. His eminence was such that his work became a kind of benchmark against which subsequent photographers measured the development of the art of portraiture. He enjoyed the unique distinction of having his early images reprinted accompanying a piece entitled "American Portraiture Twenty-Five Years Ago," and analyzed by leading portraitists of the early 20th century. The response proved interesting because it brought to consciousness the change of style from an ideal "that the figure should be surrounded by more or less familiar accessories" to the ideal of "the figure itself."
Here is a pic of her in what looks like the same dress, http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/pauline-lucca-singer-austria-in-her-flat-around-1904-news-photo/545350693#pauline-lucca-singer-austria-in-her-flat-around-1904-picture-id545350693
She has the same hair style in many of the online pictures.
thank you! oh boy, i feel like i should've known better and thought to look up Rocher. sorry about that!
but thank you again. i'm actually having a great time reading that book of someone's account of her!
She looks like the lady on a cup I posted, she was a red head. http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/213167-a-cup?in=user