Pauline Viardot-Garcia (1821–1910)

Pauline Viardot-Garcia
Pauline Viardot-Garcia, portrait Reproduction of a photography by Erwin Hanfstaengl, Frankfurt (Robert-Schumann-Haus, Zwickau)

Clara Schumann and Pauline Viardot-Garcia, the younger sister of Maria Malibran, had met as early as 1838 in Leipzig, when both were young, aspiring musicians. They quickly became friends and remained in contact until Clara’s death, although they were very different in temperament and their way of life. Clara was fascinated by Pauline’s impulsiveness and insouciance; Pauline called her friend “Clärchen [little Clara]” and was very pleased every time they met or she received a letter from her. During Clara’s stay in Paris in 1839, they spent almost every day together; in 1843, they performed together with Mendelssohn in a concert in Leipzig; in 1856, they met in London; in 1858, in Budapest; and in 1862 again in Paris. A year later, Clara Schumann took part in Pauline’s last public concert.

After her withdrawal from the stage, Pauline Viardot-Garcia lived for ten years in Baden-Baden. In these years, Clara Schumann also spent her summers nearby, in Lichtenthal. Her friend had encouraged her to buy a house that became the centre of Schumann’s family life between 1862 and 1873. At Villa Viardot, in turn, Pauline gathered many of her pupils and also hosted concerts which were attended by the highest nobility. Pauline’s luxurious lifestyle often did not suit her more serious friend, but after Clara saw the performance of three little operettas at Villa Viardot, composed by Pauline herself, who had rehearsed them with her children and pupils, she wrote to Brahms: “[... what I have always said has been confirmed again: she is the most brilliant woman I have ever met.]”

Pauline, for her part, had reportedly said as early as 1844, at the end of her triumphant tour in Russia, when Clara and Robert Schumann had just arrived: “[I am leaving Clara Schumann with you. Her singing on the piano is better than mine.]”

After Pauline’s return to Paris in 1871, the contact between the two women became intermittent, but Clara Schumann, for instance, still secured an appointment for Pauline’s daughter Louise Héritte-Viardot as a singing teacher at the Hoch Conservatoire in Frankfurt (by the river Main). In 1884, the two “[oldest friends of this century]”, as Pauline Viardot wrote to Clara in 1892, had their last meeting in Frankfurt.

(Julia M. Nauhaus/Ingrid Bodsch, translated by Thomas Henninger)

Cf. [ Pauline Viardot-Garcia ]

On Pauline Viardot-Garcia, cf. especially the publications after 2010:
Miriam-Alexandra Wigbers: “Johannes Brahms und Pauline Viardot – der Sommer 1869: Begegnungen, Das verschollene Morgenständchen, Die Alt-Rhapsodie”, in: Brahms-Studien, Veröffentlichungen der Brahms-Gesellschaft Hamburg e. V., Vol. 16.2011, Tutzing, 2011, pp. 67–89.

Miriam Alexandra: “Pauline Viardot”, in: Lexikon der Gesangsstimme. Geschichte – Wissenschaftliche Grundlagen – Gesangstechniken – Interpreten, Laaber, 2016.

Beatrix Borchard: Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Fülle des Lebens (= Europäische Komponistinnen, Vol. 9), Cologne, 2016. 439 pages.

Herzensschwestern der Musik. Pauline Viardot und Clara Schumann – Briefe einer lebenslangen Freundschaft, edited by Désirée Wittkowski, publisher Laaber, 2020.

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