Of the stage-singers of the period only a few distinguished examples can be cited, such as the following:—
Among the great sopranos were from 1795 Angelica Catalani (d. 1849) who, after triumphs in Italy, Portugal and England, in 1814-7 was head of the Théâtre Italien in Paris, then resuming tours and retiring in 1828; from 1803 Pauline Anna Milder (Hauptmann) (d. 1838), known in Austria and Germany; from 1804 Teresa Belloc (d. 1855), a favorite Rossini interpreter, retiring in 1827; from 1815 Giuditta (Negri) Pasta (d. 1865), who sang till 1829 mostly in Paris or London; from 1820 Henriette Sontag (d. 1854), known in Germany and at Paris, who retired in 1830, but reappeared in 1848 and died in Mexico while on a great American tour; from 1821 the gifted artist Wilhelmine Schröder (Devrient) (d. 1860), who worked almost wholly at Dresden in all styles from Weber to Wagner, retiring in 1847; and from 1822 till 1835 Nanette Schechner (Waagen) (d. 1860).
The one great contralto was from 1825 Maria (Garcia) Malibran (d. 1836), who made a fabulous fortune in London, America, Paris and Italy, and died suddenly at only 28.
The greater tenors were from about 1790 Manoel del Popolo Vicente Garcia (d. 1832), who, after singing and writing operettas in Spain and at Paris, in 1811-6 studied in Italy, oscillated between London and Paris, introduced Italian opera into the United States and Mexico in 1825-9, became a famous teacher and produced in all about 50 operas; from 1793 till 1829 Gaetano Crivelli (d. 1836); from 1796 the English John Braham (d. 1856), also a composer of songs and stage-pieces; from about 1795 Niccolò Tacchinardi (d. 1859), till 1831 known chiefly at Florence and Paris; from 1797 Domenico Ronconi (d. 1839), who in 1825 settled as a teacher at Milan; from 1811 Karl Adam Bader (d. 1870), a specialist in Spontini's works at Berlin; from 1814 the enormously successful Giovanni Battista Rubini (d. 1854); and from 1821 the Parisian Adolphe Nourrit (d. 1839, suicide).
The more noted basses were from 1810 Christian Wilhelm Fischer (d. 1859), working mostly at Dresden and Leipsic; from 1812 the remarkable Luigi Lablache (d. 1858), a foremost artist for 40 years; from 1813 Nicolas Prosper Levasseur of Paris (d. 1871); and from 1818 till 1859 Antonio Tamburini (d. 1876), a universal favorite.
The two greatest writers of librettos were Gaetano Rossi (d. 1855), who worked long at Venice, writing over 100 opera-texts, including those of Rossini's Tancredi and Semiramide, of Meyerbeer's Il crociato, of Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix and of Mercadante's Il giuramento; and Eugène Scribe (d. 1861), who devoted his talents to the upbuilding of the French opéra comique, also preparing over 100 texts, of which brilliant examples were those of Boieldieu's La dame blanche, Auber's Masaniello, Fra Diavalo, Les diamants de la couronne and many others, Halévy's Manon Lescaut and La juïve, Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable, Les Huguenots, Le Prophète, L'étoile du Nord and L'africaine, and Verdi's Les vêpres siciliennes—besides writing a number of novels.
