Pauline Viardot was a member of one of the most famous musical families in 19th-century Europe, the García family. The clan traced its origin to Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez. Born in 1775 in Seville, Spain, Manuel was a famous tenor, composer, operatic impresario, and teacher.

Pauline studied piano and began vocal lessons with her father, but Manuel died when Pauline was eleven years old. As a teenager, Pauline sought to perfect her art and began appearing in concerts, making her operatic début in London as Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello in May 1839. There she met Louis Viardot, director of the Italian Theatre in Paris, and he engaged her services, also for Rossini’s Otello. They were married in 1840. During her career, Paulin...