French soprano Blanche Marchesi was the daughter of Salvatore and Mathilde Marchesi, two famous singers in their own right, who both went on to become important singing teachers . Blanche was born in Paris in 1863, and made her operatic début as Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Die Walküre in Prague.
After this extraordinary start, her repertoire grew to contain many more of the expansive Wagner parts, and also such r├┤les as Leonora in VerdiΓÇÖs Il Trovatore and Santuzza in MascagniΓÇÖs Cavalleria Rusticana. She taught singing in London for many years and in 1932 published The Singer's Catechism and Creed. She died in London in 1940.
