Désirée Artôt [SEP] voice type
Désirée Artôt
Désirée Artôt (; 11 June 1835 – 3 April 1907) was a Belgian soprano (initially a mezzo-soprano), who was famed in German and Italian opera and sang mainly in Germany. In 1868 she was engaged, briefly, to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who may have coded her name into works such as his First Piano Concerto and the "Romeo and Juliet" Fantasy-Overture. After her 1869 marriage to the Spanish baritone Mariano Padilla y Ramos, she was known as Désirée Artôt de Padilla or
earlier stars such as Betty Hennings (1850–1939).
With financial support from the theatre's director Edvard Fallesen, she spent several periods in Paris where she received voice training from Mathilde Marchesi, who succeeded in training her to reach the higher notes usually sung by sopranos. Her stage performance also improved with guidance from Désirée Artôt. As a result, she was able to perform soprano parts such as Julie in Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette", where she was particularly dramatic in the final scene. With her aristocratic looks