View source for Pauline Viardot

{{short description|French mezzo-soprano (1821–1910)}}
{{redirect|Viardot|Pauline Viardot's son|Paul Viardot|her daughter|Louise Héritte-Viardot}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Pauline Viardot
| image = Pauline Viardot-Garcia 3.jpg
| image_upright = 
| caption = Viardot, {{circa|1845}}
| birth_name = Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García<ref name="name" />
| birth_date = {{birth date|1821|07|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = Paris, France
| death_date = {{death date and age|1910|05|18|1821|07|18|df=y}}
| death_place = Paris, France
| education = 
| occupation = {{hlist|Operatic [[dramatic mezzo-soprano]]|music pedagogue|composer}}
| organizations = 
| awards = 
| signature = File:Pauline Viardot an Josef Dessauer 03-24 (cropped) - Signature.jpg
}}
'''Pauline Viardot''' ({{IPA|fr|po.lin vjaʁ.do|pron}}; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a French dramatic [[mezzo-soprano]], composer and pedagogue of Spanish descent. Born '''Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García''',<ref name="name">FitzLyon, p. 15, referring to the baptismal name. The [https://archives.paris.fr/arkotheque/visionneuse/visionneuse.php?arko=YTo2OntzOjQ6ImRhdGUiO3M6MTA6IjIwMjMtMTItMDciO3M6MTA6InR5cGVfZm9uZHMiO3M6MTE6ImFya29fc2VyaWVsIjtzOjQ6InJlZjEiO2k6Mzk7czo0OiJyZWYyIjtpOjI4NzU3MztzOjE2OiJ2aXNpb25uZXVzZV9odG1sIjtiOjE7czoyMToidmlzaW9ubmV1c2VfaHRtbF9tb2RlIjtzOjQ6InByb2QiO30=#uielem_move=0%2C0&uielem_rotate=F&uielem_islocked=0&uielem_zoom=52 birth record] digitized at Paris's ''État civil reconstitué (XVIe-1859)'' reads instead: "<del>Michelle</del> Pauline Ferdinande Laurence Garcia".</ref> she came from a musical family and took up music at a young age. She began performing as a teenager and had a long and illustrious career as a star performer.

==Name==
Her name appears in various forms. When it is not simply "Pauline Viardot", it most commonly appears in association with her maiden name García or the unaccented form, Garcia. This name sometimes precedes Viardot and sometimes follows it. Sometimes the words are hyphenated; sometimes they are not. She achieved initial fame as "Pauline García"; the accent was dropped at some point, but exactly when is not clear.<ref>Grove's Dictionary, 5th edition (1954), in a footnote to their article on her father, says: ''The correct Spanish spelling of the name is García, but the family dropped the accent at some time, probably when its members began to become known abroad.''</ref> After her marriage, she referred to herself simply as "Mme Viardot".<ref name="hilde"/>

==Early life==
Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García Sitches was born in Paris. Her father, [[Manuel García (tenor)|Manuel]], a [[tenor]], was a Spanish singing teacher, composer and [[impresario]]. Her mother was [[Joaquina Sitches]], a Spanish actress and operatic singer. Her godparents were [[Ferdinando Paer]] and Princess Pauline Galitsin, who provided her with her middle names.<ref name=Grove>[[Eric Blom]] ed., Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th edition, 1954<!--ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref> She was 13 years younger than her sister, [[Maria Malibran]], a highly acclaimed and famous [[diva]]. Her father trained her on the piano and also gave her singing lessons.<ref name=Figes>{{cite book|author-link=Orlando Figes|first=Orlando|last=Figes|title=The Europeans|publisher=Allen Lane|year=2019|isbn=978-0-241-00489-0}}</ref>

As a little girl, she travelled with her family to London, New York City (where her father, mother, brother and sister gave the first full performance of Mozart's ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' in the United States, in the presence of the librettist, [[Lorenzo Da Ponte]]<ref name="Musical criticism.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/viardot.htm|title=Pauline Viardot: Opera Rara - MusicalCriticism.com (CD review)|access-date=2 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429093008/http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/viardot.htm|archive-date=29 April 2009}}</ref>) and [[Mexico City]], where she started her musical career.<ref name=Pareyon>[[Gabriel Pareyon]] ed., ''Diccionario Enciclopédico de Música en México'', vol. II, 2007, isbn 968-5557-79-9.</ref>

By the age of six she was fluent in Spanish, French, English, and Italian. Later in her career, she sang Russian arias so well that she was taken for a native speaker.<ref name="hilde"/> After her father's death in 1832, her mother, soprano [[Joaquina Sitches]], took over her singing lessons, and forced her to focus her attention on her voice and away from the piano.<ref name=Figes/> She had wanted to become a professional concert pianist. She had taken piano lessons with the young [[Franz Liszt]]<ref name="Musical criticism.com"/><ref name=harris>{{cite web |url=http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04082005-095548/unrestricted/Harris_dis.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307112626/http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04082005-095548/unrestricted/Harris_dis.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 March 2007 |title=The Music Salon of Pauline Viardot: Featuring Her Salon Opera, ''Cendrillon'' |website=Etd.lsu.edu |access-date=11 August 2016 }}</ref> and counterpoint and harmony classes with [[Anton Reicha]], the teacher of Liszt and [[Hector Berlioz]] and friend of [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]. It was with the greatest regret that she abandoned her strong vocation for the piano, which she did only because she did not dare to disobey her mother's wishes.<ref name=harris/>

She remained an outstanding pianist all her life, and often played duets with her friend [[Frédéric Chopin]], who approved of her arranging some of his mazurkas as songs, and even assisted her in this. Liszt, [[Ignaz Moscheles]], [[Adolphe Adam]], [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] and others have left accounts of her excellent piano playing.<ref name=harris/>

After Malibran's death in 1836, aged 28, Pauline became a professional singer, with a vocal range from C3 to F6.  However, her professional debut as a musician was as a pianist, accompanying her brother-in-law, the violinist [[Charles Auguste de Bériot]].<ref name=harris/>

==Career==
[[File:Marietta Alboni and Pauline Viardot.jpg|thumb|Viardot as Valentina and [[Marietta Alboni]] as Urbano in Act&nbsp;1 of Meyerbeer's ''[[Les Huguenots|Gli Ugonotti]]''. [[Royal Opera House|Royal Italian Opera (Covent Garden)]] (1848) (lithograph by [[John Brandard]])]]
[[File:Pauline Viardot et Frédéric Chopin au piano.jpg|thumb|Pauline Viardot at the piano listening to Frédéric Chopin. Sketch]]
In 1837, 16-year-old Pauline García gave her first concert performance in Brussels. She made her opera debut as Desdemona in [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini]]'s ''[[Otello (Rossini)|Otello]]'' in London in 1839. This proved to be the surprise of the season. Despite her flaws, she had an exquisite vocal technique combined with an astonishing degree of passion.

At the age of 17, she met and was courted by the famous French romantic poet [[Alfred de Musset]], who had earlier been taken with her sister Maria Malibran. Some sources say he asked for Pauline's hand in marriage, but she declined. However, she remained on good terms with him for many years.<ref name="harris"/><ref name=Steen/> Her friend [[George Sand]] (who later based the heroine of her 1843 novel ''[[Consuelo (novel)|Consuelo]]'' on her) had a role in discouraging her from accepting de Musset's proposal, directing her instead to [[Louis Viardot]] (1800–1883).<ref name=Figes/>

Viardot, an author and the director of the [[Théâtre Italien]] and twenty-one years Pauline's senior, was financially secure and would be able to provide Pauline with much more stability than de Musset. The marriage took place on 18 April 1840. He was 39 or 40, she 18. He was devoted to her and became the manager of her career. Her children followed in her musical footsteps. Her son [[Paul Viardot|Paul]] became a concert violinist, her daughter [[Louise Héritte-Viardot]] became a composer and writer, and two other daughters became concert singers.<ref name=hilde/>

Her marriage did not stop the steady stream of infatuated men. The Russian novelist [[Ivan Turgenev]] in particular fell passionately in love with her after hearing her rendition of ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'' in Russia in 1843. In 1845, he left Russia to follow Pauline and eventually installed himself in the Viardot household, treated her four children as his own, and adored her until he died.  She, in turn, critiqued his work and through her connections and social abilities, presented him in the best light whenever they were in public.  The exact status of their relationship is a matter of debate. Other men closely linked to her included the composers [[Charles Gounod]] (she created the title role in his opera ''[[Sapho (Gounod)|Sapho]]'') and [[Hector Berlioz]] (who initially had her in mind for the role of Dido in ''[[Les Troyens]]'', but changed his mind, which led to a cooling of his relations with the Viardots).<ref name=Steen/>

Renowned for her wide vocal range and her dramatic roles on stage, Viardot gave performances that inspired composers such as [[Frédéric Chopin]], Berlioz, [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] (who dedicated ''[[Samson and Delilah (opera)|Samson and Delilah]]'' to her, and wanted her to sing the title role, but she declined on account of her age<ref>{{cite news|author=Erica Jeal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/feb/24/classicalmusicandopera|title=Erica Jeal on pianist, singer and composer Pauline Viardot|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref>), and [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]], for whom she created Fidès in ''[[Le prophète (opera)|Le prophète]]''.
[[Image:Pauline Viardot-Garcia 1 A.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|{{center|Pauline Viardot}}]]
She spoke fluent Spanish, French, Italian, English, German, and [[Russian language|Russian]], and composed songs in a variety of national techniques. Her career took her to the best music halls across [[Europe]], and from 1843 to 1846 she was permanently attached to the Opera in [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

She spent many happy hours at [[George Sand]]'s home at Nohant, with Sand and her partner [[Frédéric Chopin]]. She was given expert advice by Chopin on her piano playing, her vocal compositions, and her arrangements of some of his [[Mazurkas (Chopin)|mazurkas]] as songs. He in turn derived from her some firsthand knowledge about Spanish music.<ref name=harris/> In July 1847, Sand's and Chopin's relationship came to an end.  Viardot tried to heal the rift and get the two back together, but to no avail.<ref name=harris/>

She arranged instrumental works by [[Joseph Haydn]], [[Franz Schubert]] and [[Johannes Brahms]] as songs. She was the mezzo-soprano in the [[Tuba mirum]] movement of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]]'' at Chopin's funeral at [[Église de la Madeleine]] in Paris on 30 October 1849, which she performed together with a soprano, incognito behind a black curtain.<ref>[[Frederick Niecks]], ''The Life of Chopin'', Novello, Ewers & Co., London and New York, 1888, vol. II, p. 325).</ref>

She sang the title role of [[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck]]'s opera ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice|Orphée et Eurydice]]'' at [[Théâtre Lyrique]] in Paris in November 1859, directed by Hector Berlioz who arranged the opera, and she sang this role over 150 times.<ref name=hilde>{{cite web|url=http://www.hildegard.com/pdf_notes/494-02592_notes.pdf|title=Pauline Viardot-Garcia (1821–1910)|website=Hildegard.com|access-date=11 August 2016|archive-date=14 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014175701/http://www.hildegard.com/pdf_notes/494-02592_notes.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was well acquainted with [[Jenny Lind]], the Swedish soprano and philanthropist,<ref name=Lind>{{cite web|url=http://www.iconsofeurope.com/paulineviardot.htm |title=Pauline Viardot: Singing In "Chopin And The Nightingale"|website=Iconsofeurope.com|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref> who had been a student of her brother.

A notable remark of hers was made to the English soprano [[Adelaide Kemble]] when they attended the late concert in London by the great Italian soprano [[Giuditta Pasta]], who was clearly past her prime. Asked by Kemble what she thought of the voice, she replied 'Ah! It is a ruin, but then so is [[Leonardo da Vinci|Leonardo]]'s ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci)|Last Supper]]'''.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

In 1863, Pauline Viardot retired from the stage. She and her family left France due to her husband's public opposition to [[Napoleon III|Emperor Napoleon III]] and settled in [[Baden-Baden]], Germany. In 1870, however, [[Johannes Brahms]] persuaded her to sing in the first public performance of his ''[[Alto Rhapsody]]'', at [[Jena]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzHbjLeIpfgC&q=alto+rhapsody+pauline+viardot+march+1870&pg=PA49|title=The Cambridge Companion to Brahms|author=Michael Musgrave|page=49|date=27 May 1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-48581-4|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Salon of Pauline Viardot - Gallica.png|thumb|upright=1.5|{{center|Salon of M<sup>me</sup> Viardot,<br />article from ''[[L'Illustration]]'', 19 March 1853}}]]
After the fall of Napoleon III later in 1870, they returned to France, where she taught at the Paris Conservatory and, until her husband's death in 1883, presided over a music salon in the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Her students included [[Ada Adini]], [[Désirée Artôt]], [[Selma Ek]], [[Emma Engdahl-Jägerskiöld]], [[Marie Hanfstängl]], [[Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya]], [[Felia Litvinne]], [[Emilie Mechelin]], [[Aglaja Orgeni]], [[Anna Eugénie Schoen-René]], [[Mafalda Salvatini]], [[Raimund von zur-Mühlen]], and [[Maria Wilhelmj]]. ({{See LMST|Pauline|Viardot}}) Her pupil [[Natalia Iretskaya]] later became the teacher of [[Oda Slobodskaya]] and of [[Lydia Lipkowska]], who in turn taught [[Virginia Zeani]]. She was also the godmother of Artôt's daughter [[Lola Artôt de Padilla]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m0HLkxKaFacC&q=lola+artot+padilla&pg=PA164|title=America's Musical Inheritance – Memories and Reminiscences|author1=Anna Eugenie|author2=Schoen Rene|date=March 2007|page=164|publisher=Read Books |isbn=978-1-4067-5149-9|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref> In 1877, her daughter Marianne was briefly engaged to [[Gabriel Fauré]], but she later married composer [[Alphonse Duvernoy]].<ref name=Grove/>

On 11 April 1873 she appeared at the [[Théâtre de l'Odéon]] in Paris in the first performance of [[Jules Massenet]]'s oratorio ''[[Marie-Magdeleine]]''.<ref>Huebner, Steven (1999). ''French Opera at the Fin De Siècle. Wagnerism, Nationalism, and Style''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 30. {{ISBN|978-0-19-816280-3}}.</ref>

From the mid-1840s, until her retirement, she was renowned for her appearances in Mozart's opera ''[[Don Giovanni]]'', an opera with which her family had long been associated (see "Early life" above). In 1855, she had purchased Mozart's original manuscript of the opera in London. She preserved it in a shrine in her Paris home, where it was visited by many notable people, including [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini]], who genuflected, and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]], who said he was "in the presence of divinity". It was displayed at the Exposition Universelle of 1878, and at the centenary exhibition of ''Don Giovanni'''s premiere in 1887. In 1889 she announced she would donate it to the [[Conservatoire de Paris]], and this occurred in 1892.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/ncm.2001.25.2-3.165|doi=10.1525/ncm.2001.25.2-3.165|access-date=28 June 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724114728/http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/ncm.2001.25.2-3.165|archive-date=24 July 2011|title=Enshrining Mozart:Don Giovanniand the Viardot Circle |year=2001 |last1=Everist |first1=Mark |journal=19th-Century Music |volume=25 |issue=2–3 |pages=165–189 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Death==
In 1910, Viardot died, aged 88. Her body is interred in the [[Montmartre Cemetery]], Paris, France. 

The Villa Viardot<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tourgueniev.fr/villa02.jpg|format=JPG|title=Photographic image|website=Tourgueniev.fr|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref> in [[Bougival]], near Paris, was a gift to the Viardots by [[Ivan Turgenev]] in 1874.

==Compositions==
[[File:Viardot Pluchart.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Pauline Viardot (1853), by [[Eugène Pluchart]]]]
Viardot began composing when she was young, but it was never her intention to become a composer. Her compositions were written mainly as private pieces for her students with the intention of developing their vocal abilities. She did the bulk of her composing after her retirement at [[Baden-Baden]]. However, her works were of professional quality and [[Franz Liszt]] declared that, with Pauline Viardot, the world had finally found a woman composer of genius.<ref name=Steen>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Steen|year=2007|title=Enchantress of Nations: Pauline Viardot – Soprano, Muse and Lover|location=Thriplow|publisher=Icon|isbn=978-1-84046-843-4}}</ref>

Having as a young girl studied with Liszt and with the music theorist and composer [[Anton Reicha]], she was both an outstanding pianist and a complete all-around professional musician. Between 1864 and 1874 she wrote three salon operas – ''Trop de femmes'' (1867), ''L'ogre'' (1868), and ''[[Le dernier sorcier]]'' (1869), all to libretti by [[Ivan Turgenev]] – and over fifty ''Lieder''.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Rachel Miller |title=The music salon of Pauline Viardot: featuring her salon opera Cendrillon |publisher=Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College |year=2005 |pages=20 |language=English}}</ref> Her remaining two salon operas – ''Le conte de fées'' (1879), and ''[[Cendrillon (Viardot)|Cendrillon]]'' (1904, when she was 83) – were to her own libretti.  The operas may be small in scale; however, they were written for advanced singers and some of the music is difficult.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

'''Opera'''
* ''Trop de femmes'' (libretto by [[Ivan Turgenev]], 1867)
* ''L'ogre'' (Turgenev, 1868)
* ''[[Le dernier sorcier]]'' (Turgenev, 1869)
* ''Le conte de fées'' (own libretto, 1879)
* ''[[Cendrillon (Viardot)|Cendrillon]]'' (own libretto, 1904)

[[Image:Pauline Viardot Denkmal Baden Baden (fcm).jpg|thumb|Bust of Viardot 2004 by [[Birgit Stauch]] in [[Baden-Baden]]]]

'''Choral'''
* ''Choeur bohémien''
* ''Choeur des elfes''
* ''Choeur de fileuses''
* ''La Jeune République''

'''Songs'''
* ''Album de Mme Viardot-Garcia''  (1843)
* ''L'Oiseau d'or'' (1843)
* ''12 Mazurkas for voice and piano'' – based on [[Frédéric Chopin]]'s works (1848)
* ''Duo'', 2 solo voices and piano (1874)
* ''100 songs'' including ''5 Gedichte'' (1874)
* ''4 Lieder'' (1880)
* ''5 Poésies toscanes-paroles'' by L. Pomey (1881)
* ''6 Mélodies'' (1884)
* ''Airs italiens du XVIII siècle'' (trans. L. Pomey) (1886)
* ''6 chansons du XVe siècle''
* ''Album russe''
* ''Canti popolari toscani''
* Vocal arrangements of instrumental works by [[Johannes Brahms]], [[Joseph Haydn]] and [[Franz Schubert]]
[[File:Pauline Viardot.jpg|thumb|{{center|Lithograph of Pauline Garcia by [[Bernard-Romain Julien]]}}]]
'''Instrumental'''
* ''2 airs de ballet'' for piano (1885)
* ''Défilé bohémien'' for piano 4 hands (1885)
* ''Introduction et polonaise'' for piano 4 hands (1874)
* ''Marche militaire'' for 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 brass choirs (1868)
* ''Mazourke'' for piano (1868)
* ''6 morceaux'' for violin and piano (1868)
* ''Second album russe'' for piano (1874)
* Sonatine for violin and piano (1874)
* ''Suite arménienne'' for piano for four hands

'''Source:''' Rachel M. Harris, ''The Music Salon of Pauline Viardot''<ref name="harris"/>

== In popular culture ==
Viardot is a character in [[Alexander Chee]]'s 2016 novel ''The Queen of the Night'', appearing in her retirement at Baden-Baden as a teacher and mentor to the fictional narrator.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-alexander-chee-20160207-story.html|title=Alexander Chee's 'The Queen of the Night' is an operatic novel of opera|last=Akins|first=Ellen|date=11 February 2016|website=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=5 July 2019}}</ref> She is also portrayed in [[Joie Davidow]]'s novel ''An Unofficial Marriage'' (2021), based on her relationship with Turgenev.

A three-act opera based on Viardot's life, ''Notes on Viardot'', with libretto and score by American composer [[Michael Ching]], premiered in 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Whitney |first1=Stu |title=Opera on the prairie? University of South Dakota program raises its voice |url=https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/education/2024/04/01/inside-the-university-of-south-dakotas-ambitious-opera-program/73166251007/ |access-date=August 4, 2024 |work=[[Argus Leader]] |agency=South Dakota News Watch |date=April 1, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sharples |first1=Riva |title=Opera Commissioned For USD Premiers In Vermillion This Weekend |url=https://www.plaintalk.net/local_news/article_dc304a90-033d-11ef-b9d9-5ba3f532eeed.html |access-date=August 4, 2024 |work=Vermillion Plain Talk |date=April 26, 2024}}</ref> The story is told in flashbacks as a journalist interviews Viardot near the end of her life,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sharples |first1=Riva |title=Opera Commissioned For USD Premiers In Vermillion This Weekend |url=https://www.plaintalk.net/local_news/article_dc304a90-033d-11ef-b9d9-5ba3f532eeed.html |access-date=August 4, 2024 |work=Vermillion Plain Talk |date=April 26, 2024}}</ref> and within Ching's original compositions the music weaves in songs and melodies from Viardot's own compositions plus arias she sang during her career.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Steinbach |first1=Molly |title=Taos Opera Institute Showcase 2023 |url=https://www.taosnews.com/tempo/music/taos-opera-institute-showcase-2023/article_d4594771-70d9-5c84-99a7-825e65abce50.html |access-date=August 4, 2024 |work=[[Taos News]] |date=June 12, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tnW96mr9mQ |title=''Notes on Viardot'' by Michael Ching. USD Vermillion April 2024 |date=May 31, 2024 | type=video}}</ref>

==Genealogy==
{{Family tree of Manuel García}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last=FitzLyon |first=April |author-link= April FitzLyon |date=2011 |title=The Price of Genius: A Life of Pauline Viardot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DoVjDwAAQBAJ&q=April+Fitzlyon+The+Price+of+Genius:+A+Life+of+Pauline+Viardot |location= London |publisher= Calder |isbn= 978-0-7145-4371-0 |orig-date=1964 }}
* Harris, Rachel M. (2005). ''The Music Salon of Pauline Viardot: Featuring her Salon Opera ''Cendrillon. Ph.D. thesis. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University. {{OCLC| 60545918}}. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100701182025/http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04082005-095548/ Electronic copy].
* Kendall-Davies, Barbara (2003). ''The Life and Work of Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Vol. 1, The Years of Fame, 1836–1863''. Amersham: Cambridge Scholars. {{ISBN|978-1-904303-27-5}}.
* Kendall-Davies, Barbara (2012). ''The Life and Work of Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Vol. 2, The Years of Grace, 1863–1910''. Amersham: Cambridge Scholars. {{ISBN|978-1-4438-4013-2}}.
* Mouchon, Jean-Pierre (July 2000). "Correspondance de Pauline Viardot avec Éline Biarga, avec photos" ("Étude", n°14, juillet-août-septembre 2000, Association internationale de chant lyrique TITTA RUFFO, Marseille, France. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140430015755/http://titta-ruffo-international.jimdo.com/articles/references-des-articles-jusqu-en-2011/ Site: titta-ruffo-international.jimdo.com].
* Steen, Michael (2007). ''Enchantress of Nations. Pauline Viardot: Soprano, Muse and Lover''. Thriplow: Icon. {{ISBN|978-1-84046-843-4}}.
* Borchard, Beatrix (2016). ''Pauline Viardot-Garcia: Fülle des Lebens''. Köln: Böhlau Verlag. {{ISBN|978-3-412-50143-3}}.
* Borchard, Beatrix / Wigers, Miriam-Alexandra Wigbers (Ed.) (2021). ''Pauline Viardot-Garcia – Julius Rietz. Der Briefwechsel 1858–1874''. Unter Mitarbeit von Juliette Appold, Regina Back, Martina Bick und Melanie Stier (= Viardot-Garcia-Studien 1). Hildesheim: Olms. {{ISBN|978-3-487-15981-2}}.

==External links==
{{commons|Pauline Viardot}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38335 ''Lettres à Madame Viardot'', by Ivan Turgenev (fr)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719210556/http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou00141 Pauline Viardot-Garcia papers] – guide to the musician's personal papers and scores in the Houghton Library at Harvard University.
* {{IMSLP|id=Viardot, Pauline}}
* [http://www.harmonicorde.com/Pauline%20ViardotGarcia.html# Pauline Viardot-Garcia (includes reviews of early concerts by Alfred de Musset and George Sand)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719042547/http://mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de/Viardot/index.html Multimediale Präsentation Pauline Viardot]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100614085959/http://mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de/A_lexartikel/lexartikel.php?id=viar1821 Lexikalischer Artikel zu Pauline Viardot bei MUGI – "Musik und Gender im Internet".]
* [http://www.pauline-viardot.de DFG-gefördertes Forschungsprojekt "Orte und Wege europäischer Kulturvermittlung durch Musik. Die Sängerin und Komponistin Pauline Viardot"]
* [[Musée de la Vie romantique]], Paris, Portrait painted by [[Ary Scheffer]]
* [http://www.pauline-viardot.de/Werkverzeichnis.htm "Pauline Viardot. Systematisch-bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis (VWV)" by Christin Heitmann]
*{{NPG name|id=54785}}
{{Pauline Viardot}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viardot, Pauline}}
[[Category:1821 births]]
[[Category:1910 deaths]]
[[Category:French women classical composers]]
[[Category:French operatic mezzo-sopranos]]
[[Category:French people of Spanish descent]]
[[Category:French Romantic composers]]
[[Category:French opera composers]]
[[Category:French women opera composers]]
[[Category:Burials at Montmartre Cemetery]]
[[Category:Musicians from Paris]]
[[Category:Pupils of Frédéric Chopin]]
[[Category:Pupils of Anton Reicha]]
[[Category:19th-century French women opera singers]]
[[Category:19th-century French women composers]]