Margherita de L'Épine

Margherita de L'Épine in the painting Rehearsal of an opera (around 1709) by Marco Ricci

( Francesca ) Margherita de L'Épine (also: Françoise Marguerite de L'Épine , Margarita de L'Epine , Margarita De l'Espine , la Margherita , Signora Margherita , Signora Margarita , Mrs. Margarita ; * approx. 1680 - 1683 ; † August 8, 1746 in London ) was a singer ( soprano ) of the Baroque , whose name coincides with the beginnings of Italian opera in England and in particular withGeorg Friedrich Handel is connected. However, she also appeared in English works and was the wife of the composer Johann Christoph Pepusch .

Life

She was and is often considered to be the first Italian singer to appear publicly in England, but her last name suggests a French or Franco-Italian origin, or a first French husband - but everything indicates that her vocal training was Italian. She herself also signed as Françoise Marguerite de L'Épine.

It is also not entirely certain when she first came to England. It has sometimes been suggested that she would be identical to "an Italian lady" (" Italian lady ") mentioned in the London Gazette in January 1692-93, "recently come to England and famous for her singing". The said singer announced that she would " perform every Tuesday in the York Buildings and Thursdays in Freeman's Yard in Cornhill ". However, it is not very likely that it was the de L'Épine, if you consider that it had a child around the turn of the year 1723–24. Because even if the “ Italian lady ” was still very young from 1692 to 1693, z. B. 18 years old (born 1673–74), she would have been at least 50 in 1724.

According to Winton Dean , Margherita sang in Venice from 1698 to 1700 and was referred to as the virtuoso of the Duke of Mantua . There is evidence that she was on stage as Berenice at the Teatro Sant'Angelo in the Teatro Sant'Angelo in 1700 in a pasticcio L 'oracolo in sogno (with music by Caldara , CF Pollarolo and Quintavalle), next to the young Margherita Durastanti .

Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham

It is said that Margherita de L'Épine came to England together with the composer Jakob Greber (as his lover?), Who is documented there for the first time in 1703. Her sister Maria Gallia, who was also a singer, but not so successful, was probably also part of the party. Margherita is clearly mentioned for the first time in England when she sang in a play called " The Fickle Sheperdesse " on May 27, 1703 and received the enormous sum of 20 guineas for this performance , about as much as some actors in six months earned. Margherita quickly caused a sensation and sang in private concerts in the houses of the English nobility. Queen Anne invited her to a concert at the royal court and paid her 30 guineas for it. For a court concert before Archduke Charles VI, she received 40 guineas, more than all other singers (including Catherine Tofts ) who only got 30. The Earl of Nottingham , the Queen's Secretary of State , became a particularly avid admirer and patron of Margherita, and she might even become his mistress .

In Lincoln's-Inn-Fields she sang on June 1, 1703 for the supposedly last time in England “four of her most famous Italian arias” (“ four of her most celebrated Italian songs ”), which she had another concert on June 8th where she also performed a song called " The Nightingale " (The Nightingale).

However, Margherita de L'Épine held her great success in London. In Drury Lane Theater she performed for the first time on 29 January 1704 and sang between acts of a play arias by Greber.

Marco Ricci: Rehearsal of an opera (around 1709). The young lady in white in the foreground is Catherine Tofts, Margherita de L'Épine is standing behind her on the right with a red muff talking to a gentleman.

Very soon, however, there was a serious rivalry with the English singer Catherine Tofts , which was even heated up by the partially nationalist audience, which split into two camps (similar to later with the " rival queens " Cuzzoni and Bordoni ). Already at De L'Épine's second appearance in Drury Lane on February 5, 1704, she was whistled and oranges pelted by a maid of the Tofts named Ann Barwick . In order to avoid the suspicion that the woman could have been instigated by her personally, Catherine Tofts apologized in a letter to the manager of the theater and demanded a fair punishment for the wrongdoing of the Barwick. The "singer war" continued, however, and inspired several newspaper writers and poets. It was called by some people with mock names such as " Greber's Peg " ("Greber's nail") or " The Tawny Tuscan " (freely about: "the Tuscan owl").
John Hughes described in a poem the effect of Margherita de L'Épine's singing, mentioning some of her noble admirers:

... Then fam'd L'Epine does equal skill employ, / While list'ning peers crowd to th'ecstatic joy: / Bedford, to hear her song, his dice forsakes, / And Nottingham is raptur'd when she shakes : / Lull'd statesmen melt away their drowsy cares / Of England's safety in Italian airs. ...

“... Then the famous L'Epine shows the same ability, / While listening, the peers rush to ecstatic joys: / Bedford, to hear her song, leaves his game of dice, / And Nottingham is delighted when she trills : / Lulled ones Statesmen let their sleepy worry / For England's safety melt away in Italian arias. ... "

Margherita de L'Épine and Catherine Tofts were the best-paid singers in London at the time and were paid 400 pounds per season, a very high salary for the time, which far exceeded the normal salary of an actor. Only the famous castrato Nicolino got a little more with 430 pounds.

In 1705 Margherita sang a few arias (or cantatas ?) Before and after the opera Arsinoe , and in Greber's opera The Temple of Love in 1706, according to Burney, she had the female lead. In libretti or on posters she was often referred to as " Signora Margherita " (or " Signora Margarita "). At the Drury Lane Theater in April 1706 she sang the title role in Thomyris , a pasticcio arranged by Pepusch with music by Alessandro Scarlatti and Bononcini (a year later she sang the role of Tigrane in it).

Not infrequently she took on male roles (instead of castrati), so she sang the Prenesto in Bononcini's Camilla in December 1706 on Drury Lane in an adaptation of Haym , which, according to Dean, was the first Italian opera in London (but still partly in English).

Georg Friedrich Handel, around 1710

From 1708 to 1714 she was then at the brand new Queen's Theater . In February 1708 she sang the role of Olindo in Love's Triumph and later the role of Mario in Alessandro Scarlatti's Pirro e Demetrio (arranged by Haym). This was followed by the title roles in Camilla (instead of Catherine Tofts) and in La Clotilde from 1708–1709 , and in 1710 in the pasticcio Almahide (with music by Bononcini and others), the first London opera production that was entirely in Italian. In the same year she appeared alongside Nicolino in the successful L ' Idaspe fedele (or Hydaspes ) by Francesco Mancini ; 1711–1712 she sang in Francesco Gasparini's Antioco and Ambleto .

On January 23, 1712 she sang for the first time in a work by Handel, as Goffredo in his Rinaldo . Handel then composed the roles of Eurilla in Il pastor fido (1712), Agilea in Teseo (1713) and probably Flavia in Silla (1713) for her. It may also have been the first Galatea in the private world premiere of Handel's Acis and Galatea in Cannons in 1718 .

In addition, she sang at the Queen's Theater until 1714 in several pasticci: in Ernelinda , Dorinda , Creso and Arminio .

The de L'Épine was by no means limited to the Italian language, but also sang in English and made a strong case for the English opera and masques . As early as 1707 in Camilla she had only sung “partly Italian”, in 1715 she was able to sing “ tolerably well ” in English. Of these, the parts that she took between 1714-1716 at the Drury Lane Theater, as the Adonis testify Pepusch Masque Venus and Adonis , the title role in Myrtillo , Apollo, Apollo and Daphne , as well as Dido in The Death of Dido (Death the Dido) by Pepusch and Booth.

In the spring of 1717 she moved back to the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater, where she sang in Camilla , Calypso and Telemachus , Venus and Adonis and Circe .

After May 28, 1719, she seems to have withdrawn from the stage, but in June 1720 she stepped in for the sick Ann Turner Robinson and sang for the newly founded Royal Academy of Music in Domenico Scarlatti's Narciso and Giovanni Portas Numitore , as well as Polissena in Handel's Radamisto .

Johann Christoph Pepusch (portrait of Thomas Hudson )

It is not known when Johann Christoph Pepusch and Margherita de L'Épine married, some date the wedding to 1718 or 1719, Hawkins in his General History to the period from 1722 to 1724. The couple's son, John Pepusch, was born on September 9th. Baptized January 1724 . According to Hawkins, he was said to have been very gifted and did not even live to be 13 years old. The Pepuschs lived on Carey Street in Boswell Court with Margherita's mother and allegedly had a parrot (or canary  ?) At the window that could sing an aria from Handel's Giulio Cesare . They later lived on Fleet Street . Margherita was perceived by the English as ugly, and is said to have been referred to as " Hecate " by her own husband , which she endured patiently or with humor.

On May 21, 1733, she sang one last time in public in a benefit concert at the Drury Lane Theater.

According to Burney, Margherita also played the harpsichord very well and even tried - unusual from an 18th century perspective - on John Bull's virtuoso variations on Walsingham (in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ), with which she did not get along so well.

She fell ill on July 19, 1746 and died on August 10.

There is a painting by Marco Ricci in which Margherita de L'Épine can be seen with Catherine Tofts, Pepusch and Nicolino during an opera rehearsal. Margherita is a small brunette woman in black, holding a muff , behind the pretty Catherine Tofts on the right. The picture is now in Castle Howard and 5 or 6 other versions still exist - one of which was previously owned by the piano maker John Broadwood & Sons.

Appreciation

Margherita de L'Épine's name is closely linked to the establishment of Italian opera in London, where she enjoyed great success. Their singing is said to have been better than anything anyone had heard in England before.

According to Cook, their girth ranged from c 'to b' ', with an emphasis on the higher register. The parts that Handel composed for them range from d 'to a' '.

Charles Burney , who of course never heard her personally, wrote from hearsay that Margherita de L'Épine's way of singing was very different from the way she was used to singing in England - which can be traced back to her Italian bel canto technique - and that she “ Her execution was of a very different order and involved real difficulties .”). John Hughes, in his poem quoted above, specifically mentioned her ability to trill , which apparently exceeded anything previously heard in England and caused "ecstatic joys". Her strengths also included a remarkable agility and lightness, which Handel put in the right light in the first part he composed for her, the Agilea in Teseo (1713), in the first act in a predestined place: in the very first aria " E pur bello, in nobil 'core ”and especially in the last aria of the first act“ M'adora l'idol' mio ”, where she had to sing fast and long chiseled coloraturas in competition with a solo oboe .

In addition, since she was not a beauty and also a foreigner, Burney was surprised that she could stay on the London stages for so long, and concluded that she must have been really impressive because otherwise the English audience would not have accepted her.

literature

• Graydon Beeks: Handel, Pepusch and Arbuthnot in Cannons , in: Stanley Sadie, Anthony Hicks (eds.): Handel, Tercentenary Collection , University Rochester Press, Ann Arbor / London, 1987, pp. 209-221, excerpts online as Google -Book (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
• Winton Dean: L'Epine, (Francesca) Margherita [Françoise Marguérite] de , article in Oxford Music online (English; accessed June 23, 2020)
• De L'Épine, Francesca Margherita, later Mrs. John Christopher Pepusch , in: Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800 , Vol. 4 (Corye to Dynion), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 292–296, online as a Google Book (English; accessed June 23, 2020)
• Catherine Tofts, later Mrs. Joseph Smith , in: Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800 , Vol. 15 (Tibbett to M. West), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 11–16, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 23, 2020)
• Julian Marshall: Epine, Francesca de l ' , in: A Dictionary of Music and Musicians , hrg. by George Grove, 1900 (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
• Louisa M. Middleton: Epine, Francesca Margherita de l ' , in: Dictionary of National Biography , 1885–1900, Vol. 17 (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
• James Anderson Winn: Queen Anne: Patroness of Arts , Oxford University Press, 2014, excerpts online as a Google Book (English; accessed June 24, 2020)

Web links

• Margherita de L'Epine, dite la Margherita , short biography online at Quell'Usignolo (French; accessed June 24, 2020)

Individual proof

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Winton Dean: L'Epine, (Francesca) Margherita [Françoise Marguérite] de , article in Oxford Music online (English; accessed June 23, 2020)
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Graydon Beeks: Handel, Pepusch and Arbuthnot in Cannons , in: Stanley Sadie, Anthony Hicks (eds.): Handel, Tercentenary Collection , University Rochester Press, Ann Arbor / London, 1987, pp. 209-221 , here: 213, online in excerpts as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 24, 2020)
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Margherita de L'Epine, dite la Margherita , short biography online at Quell'Usignolo (French; accessed June 24, 2020)
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: De L'Épine, Francesca Margherita, later Mrs. John Christopher Pepusch , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 4 (Corye to Dynion), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 292–296, online as a Google Book (English; accessed June 23, 2020)
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: De L'Épine, Francesca Margherita, later Mrs. John Christopher Pepusch , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors , Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 4 (Corye to Dynion), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 292-296, here: 295, online as a Google Book (English ; Accessed on June 23, 2020)
6. ↑ Your name was written "Margarita De l'Espine". L'oracolo in sogno (Antonio Caldara) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
7. ↑ ^{a b} Julian Marshall: Epine, Francesca de l ' , in: A Dictionary of Music and Musicians , hrg. by George Grove, 1900 (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
8. ↑ ^{a b} James Anderson Winn: Queen Anne: Patroness of Arts , Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 341, excerpts online as a Google Book (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
9. ↑ James Anderson Winn: Queen Anne: Patroness of Arts , Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 357, excerpts online as a Google Book (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
10. ↑ James Anderson Winn: Queen Anne: Patroness of Arts , Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 341, 342, 355, 376, excerpts online as a Google Book (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Louisa M. Middleton: Epine, Francesca Margherita de l ' , in: Dictionary of National Biography , 1885–1900, Vol. 17 (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Catherine Tofts, later Mrs. Joseph Smith , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 15 (Tibbett to M. West), SIU Press, 1973, p. 11, online as Google Book (English; accessed on June 23, 2020)
13. ↑ De L'Épine, Francesca Margherita, later Mrs. John Christopher Pepusch , in: Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800 , Vol. 4 (Corye to Dynion), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 292–296, here: p. 296, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 23, 2020)
14. ↑ Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Catherine Tofts, later Mrs. Joseph Smith , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 15 (Tibbett to M. West), SIU Press, 1973, p. 13, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 23, 2020)
15. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: De L'Épine, Francesca Margherita, later Mrs. John Christopher Pepusch , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 4 (Corye to Dynion), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 292–296, here: 294, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on 23 June 2020)
16. ↑ Graydon Beeks: Handel, Pepusch and Arbuthnot in Cannons , in: Stanley Sadie, Anthony Hicks (eds.): Handel, Tercentenary Collection , University Rochester Press, Ann Arbor / London, 1987, pp. 209–221, here: 213– 214, online in excerpts as a Google Book (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
17. ^ Graydon Beeks: Handel, Pepusch and Arbuthnot in Cannons , in: Stanley Sadie, Anthony Hicks (eds.): Handel, Tercentenary Collection , University Rochester Press, Ann Arbor / London, 1987, pp. 209–221, here: 214, online in excerpts as a Google Book (English; accessed June 24, 2020)
18. ^ ^{A b} Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: De L'Épine, Francesca Margherita, later Mrs. John Christopher Pepusch , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 4 (Corye to Dynion), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 292–296, here: 296, online as Google Book (English; accessed on June 23, 2020)
19. ↑ Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Catherine Tofts, later Mrs. Joseph Smith , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 15 (Tibbett to M. West), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 15–16, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 23, 2020)
20. ↑ Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: De L'Épine, Francesca Margherita, later Mrs. John Christopher Pepusch , in: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 , Vol. 4 (Corye to Dynion), SIU Press, 1973, pp. 292–296, here: 295–296, online as a Google Book (English; accessed on June 23, 2020)