Sass, Marie Constance

views updated

Sass, Marie Constance

Sass, Marie Constance, Belgian soprano; b. Oudenaarde, Jan. 26, 1834; d. Auteuil, near Paris, Nov. 8, 1907. She studied with Gevaert in Ghent, Ugalde in Paris, and Lamperti in Italy, making her operatic debut as Gilda in Venice (1852). She then went to Paris, where she sang at the Théâtre-Lyrique (1859) and at the Opéra (from 1860), where she was the first Paris Elisabeth in the controversial mounting of Tannhäuser (1861) and where she created the roles of Selika in L’Africaine (1865) and Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos (1867); subsequently appeared at Milan’s La Scala (1869–70). During her Paris years, she made appearances under the name Marie Sax until a lawsuit was brought against her by Adolphe Sax; thereafter she reverted to her real name, also using the name Sasse. She was married to Castelmary (1864–67). After retiring from the stage in 1877, she taught voice. Sass died in abject poverty.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire