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National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Robert L. McNeil, Jr.
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CC0
Object number
S/NPG.91.126.111.A
Exhibition Label
Auguste Edouart cut Euphrasie Borghese’s portrait in August 1841, shortly after her arrival in the United States. The opera singer had performed in Italy, Paris, and Havana. Here, she holds an unusually detailed sheet of music that shows us precise notes, but not words, for an aria for a soprano. During the fall of 1841, Borghese appeared onstage in New York City numerous times. An early review noted that she was the “best singer we have ever heard on this side of the Atlantic” and remarked on her expressive, but not beautiful, countenance. By 1845, one critic noted that the opera Semiramide was “never so brilliantly performed,” and that Borghese was celebrated with “a many-colored shower of wreaths and bouquets.” She married Monsieur le Chevalier Maximilien Hardtmuth of Vienna in 1851, in New York City, and continued her operatic career.
Auguste Edouart cortó este retrato de Euphrasie Borghese en agosto de 1841, poco después de que la cantante de ópera llegara a Estados Unidos, habién- dose presentado en Italia, París y La Habana. La mujer sostiene una partitura de inusual minuciosidad que nos muestra las notas específicas, aunque no la letra, de un aria para soprano. Durante el otoño de 1841, Borghese actuó en los escenarios neoyorquinos en numerosas ocasiones. Una de las reseñas afirmaba que era “la mejor cantante que hemos escuchado en este lado del Atlántico”, añadiendo que su físico era expresivo, aunque no hermoso. En 1845 un crítico comentó que la ópera Semiramide “nunca ha sido interpretada de manera tan brillante” y que Borghese fue celebrada con “una colorida lluvia de guirnaldas y ramos de flores”. En 1851 Borghese se casó en Nueva York con un vienés, Monsieur le Chevalier Maximilien Hardtmuth, y continuó su carrera operística.