Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/66

54 PYNE,, daughter of George Pyne (alto singer, born 1790, died March 15, 1877), and niece of James Kendrick Pyne (tenor singer, died Sept. 23, 1857), was born in 1832. At a very early age she studied singing under Sir George Smart, and about 1842 appeared in public with her elder sister, Susan (afterwards Mrs. Galton) [App. p.766 "omit the words (afterwards Mrs. Galton). Susan, or more correctly Susannah, Pyne, married Mr. F. H. Standing, a baritone singer, known professionally as Celli; Mrs. Galton was another sister, who had no repute as a singer.], with great success. In 1847 the sisters performed in Paris. In Aug. 1849 Louisa made her first appearance on the stage at Boulogne as Amina in 'La Sonnambula.' On Oct. 1 following she commenced an engagement at the Princess's Theatre as Zerlina, in an English version of 'Don Juan.' Her first original part was Fanny in Macfarren's 'Charles the Second,' produced Oct. 27, 1849. On March 1850 she sang at the Philharmonic; was engaged the same year at Liverpool, and in 1851 at The Haymarket. On Aug. 14, 1851, she performed the Queen of Night in 'Il Flauto Magico' at the Royal Italian Opera. She also sang in oratorios and at concerts. In Aug. 1854 she embarked for America in company with her sister Susan, W. Harrison, and Borrani. She performed in the principal cities of the United States for three years, being received everywhere with the greatest favour. On her return to England [App. p.766 "1858" she, in partnership with Harrison, formed a company for the performance of English operas, which they gave first at the Lyceum and afterwards at Drury Lane and Covent Garden Theatres, until 1862, when the partnership was dissolved. [See, vol. i. p. 692b]. Miss Pyne subsequently appeared at Her Majesty's Theatre. In 1868 she was married to Mr. Frank Bodda, the baritone singer. She has now retired from public life, and devotes herself to teaching. Her voice was a soprano of beautiful quality and great compass and flexibility; she sang with great taste and judgment, and excelled in the florid style, of which she was a perfect mistress. [ W. H. H. ]

PAPPENHEIM,, a soprano singer who excited some attention in London for a couple of years. She is an Austrian by birth, and was first heard of at Mannheim, and then at Hamburg, where she was one of the opera troupe in 1872–75, and in 74 gave some 'Gastspiele' at Kroll's Theatre, Berlin, with great success, especially as Leonora (Fidelio). She next went to America as a member of a German company under Wachtel, and remained there till 1878, when on June 15 she made a successful début in London, at Her Majesty's Theatre, as Valentine in 'The Huguenots.' She followed this with a performance of Leonora in 'Fidelio,' and also appeared in the following seasons as Donna Anna, the Countess (Figaro), Leonora (Trovatore), Aïda, Reiza, Agatha, and Elsa (Lohengrin). Though not endowed with a voice of remarkable quality or compass, Madame Pappenheim is thoroughly good and careful both as a singer and an actress. Her parts are always studied with care and conscientiousness, and she is capable of considerable dramatic intensity. She is now a member of the German Theatre at Pesth. [ A. C. ]

PISCHEK,, a fine baritone singer, born Oct. 14, 1814, at Melnick in Bohemia, made his début on the boards at the age of 21. In 1844 he was appointed Court-singer to the King of Wurtemberg at Stuttgart, an appointment which he retained until his retirement July 1, 1863. He entered on his duties May 1, 1844. At a later date he was also made 'Kammersänger.' Pischek travelled a great deal, and was known and liked in all the principal towns of North and South Germany, especially at Frankfort, where we find him singing, both on the stage in a variety of parts, and in concerts, year after year from 1840 to 1848. In England he was a very great favourite for several years. He made his first appearance here on May 1, 1845, at a concert of Madame Caradori Allan's; sang at the Philharmonic on the following Monday and thrice besides during the season there. He reappeared in this country in 1846, 47, and 49, and maintained his popularity in the concertroom, and in oratorio, singing in 49 the part of Elijah at the Birmingham festival with great energy, passion, and effect. On the stage of the German opera at Drury Lane during the same year his Don Juan was not so successful, his acting being thought exaggerated. He was heard again in 1853 at the New Philharmonic Concerts. He died at Stuttgart, Feb. 16, 1873.

In voice, enunciation, feeling, and style, Pischek was first-rate. His repertoire was large, embracing operas and pieces of Gluck, Mozart, Méhul, Beethoven, Spohr, Weber, Donizetti, Harold, Lachner, Kreutzer, Lindpaintner. In his latter days one of his most favourite parts was Hassan in Benedict's 'Der Alte vom Berge' (Crusaders); others were Hans Heiling, Ashton (Lucia), and the Jäger, in the 'Nachtlager von Granada.' He also sang Mendelssohn's Elijah, as already mentioned. As an actor he was prone to exaggeration. But it was in his ballads, especially in Lindpaintner's 'Standard-bearer,' that he carried away his audience. His taste, as in Beethoven's 'Adelaide,' was by no means uniformly pure, but the charm of his voice and style always brought down the house. His voice was a fine rich bass, with a very pure falsetto of 3 or 4 notes, which he managed exquisitely. He does not seem to have attempted any of the songs of Schubert, Schumann, or Mendelssohn, which are now so well known. [ A. C. ]

POHLENZ,, born July 3, 1790, at Saalgast in Lower Lusatia. In 1829 we find him well established in Leipzig as a singing-master, a conductor of concerts, organist, director of the Singakademie and the Musikverein, etc. At the end of 1834 he resigned the post of Conductor of the Gewandhaus subscription