Therese Tietjens
(1831-1877)

A carte-de-visite portrait of the German soprano Theresa Tietjens (usually spelt ‘Titiens’ by English speakers during her lifetime).

Born Theresa Carolina Johanna Alexandra Tietjens in Hamburg on 17 July 1831, her voice was trained in Hamburg where she made a successful début in 1849 as the eponymous heroine of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia. She proceeded next to Frankfort and Vienna, then sang for the first time in London in 1858, appearing as Valentine in Les Huguenots. She was so successful that for the rest of her life she made England her home, gaining as brilliant a reputation in concert and oratorio work as she had already won on the stage. Her voice was a dramatic soprano of magnificent quality, amply complimented by her skills as an actress.

Her most famous parts were Elena in Vespres Sicilinnes, Amelia in Un Ballo in Masquera, Leonora in La Forza del Destino, Dona Anna in Don Giovanni and Marguerita in Faust.

She collapsed during a performance of Lucrezia Borgia and died a few months later on 3 October 1877 in London 'at 51 Finchley-New-road,' leaving an estate valued at £16,000. The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica states that she had ‘endeared herself to the English people as much by her private virtues as by her artistic gifts.’