| Biography | Blanche Marchesi (4 April 1863 15 December 1940) was a French mezzo-soprano and voice teacher best known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner. She was the daughter of Mathilde Graumann Marchesi, a German voice instructor who taught a variety of well-known opera singers, including Emma Eames, Nellie Melba, and Emma Calve.
Marchesi was born in Paris in February 1863. For her education, she attended boarding schools in Frankfurt, Germany and then Paris. Although she initially was educated as a violinist, she decided to pursue a singing career in 1881. Her first concert was held at Queen's Hall in 1896. Opera critics at the time criticized her technical skill but praised her interpretive ability. During her career as a voice teacher, Marchesi instructed such singers as British contraltos Muriel Brunskill and Astra Desmond. She held a farewell concert in 1938, two years before her death. |