——"fitted or to shine in Courts
With unaffected grace, or walk the plain
With innocence and meditation joined
In soft assemblage."
The Dutch, who dearly love their household gods, are devoted to their language and their country, and religiously cherish the thoughts and habits of their ancestors. Although liberal and cordial in other respects, they do not readily admit foreigners into their privacy. Many an alien, misunderstanding the reason of their exclusion from Dutch society, has left Holland in huge dudgeon, muttering, as Voltaire did, "Canards! Canaux! Canaille!" Under the influence of Madame de Rossi, all these barriers dissolved, and, alone, amongst the foreigners resident at the Hague, she was sought after by the Dutch ladies and their burly consorts, and, up to the hour of her departure, lived in their intimate native circle.
In 1835, the Sardinian cabinet, to reward Count Rossi for his good services, appointed him Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Confederation of the Rhine, at Frankfort. Here the reputation of Madame Rossi for beauty, goodness, and talent had preceded her. The great diplomatic functionaries at Frankfort hastened to celebrate her arrival with réunions, dinners, and balls. During her residence at Frankfort, her life glided away cheerfully and rapidly amidst general esteem and domestic happiness.
The only event which signalized her residence at Frankfort was a noble act of charity. The overflowing of the Danube had produced desolation at Pesth and Buda, and appeals had been made to all parts of Germany, and particularly to the rich town of Frankfort, the commercial as well as the political capital of the German confederation. Madame de Rossi, amongst other distinguished persons, was appealed to. She at once responded to the calls on her charity, and assembling all the amateur musicians and singers, so numerous in every German capital, she gave an oratorio with their assistance, at which she, of course, herself sung, in the cathedral, the Dom, at Frankfort. The receipts of this truly religious concert were even beyond all expectation in amount. The Prince Metternich addressed to the Countess Rossi an autograph letter, thanking her for this great act of charity to the Austrian emperor's subjects.
Whether the rumor was founded, we know not, but it may, perhaps, be remembered, that towards the end of 1837, it was reported in the newspapers that a coolness, arising from an accidental circumstance, had arisen betwixt the Czar and the King of Sardinia. However this may be, what is certain is, that that momentary cloud had blown over very shortly afterwards; for the Sardinian cabinet had resolved to send to St. Petersburg a diplomatic representative of a higher grade, and furnished with ampler means of discharging one of the most agreeable duties of diplomacy, and that which often contributes as much as negotiation towards a good understanding—namely, hospitality. The Sardinian cabinet deemed that the nomination of Count Rossi might be agreeable to the Czar; and that this opinion was well founded was immediately proved, for the Court of St. Petersburg being consulted, according to usage, the Emperor of Russia condescended to express himself in the most flattering terms both towards M. and Madame de Rossi. The Czar has always maintained, and, moreover, proved practically, his opinion, that the essence of the art of reigning, like that of the art of eloquence, consists in action; habitually with his Majesty, the deed immediately follows the word.
On the arrival of M. and Madame de Rossi at St. Petersburg, their reception on the part of the Emperor and Empress was marked by every circumstance which could be most gratifying to their feelings; and for three years that they continued to reside in the imperial capital, they enjoyed unalloyed happiness in a position of special favor.
Shortly after they arrived, that most amiable and august Princess, the Emperor's Consort, became very solicitous to avail herself of Madame de Rossi's admirable gifts at some concerts of sacred music, which her Majesty was desirous to give at the Winter Palace, and likewise in some operatic performances, with the assistance of the amateurs and dilettanti of her Court. Madame de Rossi was naturally most anxious to gratify the august lady, as much beloved as she is deeply respected by all, and to whom she bore special gratitude. But that the wife of his representative should never sing in public in any form, was the special injunction of the king of Sardinia, when he consented to the official acknowledgment of Madame de Rossi's marriage, and the latter did not even dare to apply on the subject to head-quarters. Count Nesselrode, the chancellor of the Russian empire, whose ruling occupations and predilections, apart from diplomacy, are the culture of music and that of flowers—the former with enthusiasm—undertook the treaty, and entered into the negotiation with as much zeal as if the question was the cession of a new province to the away of the Czar. The King of Sardinia was too much of a chevalier not to feel he could refuse nothing to such a negotiator, when the question was to oblige so peerless a lady as the Empress. The whole Court was on the tip-toe of expectation—the delay had added fuel to the general eagerness. Led by Madame de Rossi, the performances at the Emperor's palace formed an epoch in the enjoyments of the Court. This may be easily accounted for. For here Madame de Rossi enacted chosen portions of operas, of which her reading is, in a mere dramatic point of view, the most deeply affecting. The more exalted the auditory, the more fully are its delicate traits understood. The conception is natural, at the same time as refined in the extreme. Not employing any of those outbursts, dramatic over-coloring, and jeux de ficelle, to which most of the lyrical actresses are addicted, there is a continuity and unity, a "oneness," in the elaboration of her parts, which renders the illusion complete, provided the spectator's education be proportioned to the performance. A few years since, Italian singers, ever the models, were the most listless and inanimate of actors; now most of these vocalists, having undergone revolutionary and foreign influence, have gone to the other extreme—their predecessors acted like telegraphs—they, like windmills. Madame de Rossi gives the utmost value to the feeling of the part, without forgetting that the first duty is to give also utmost value to each note, and avoiding the gusty utterance, the spasmodic gesture, and clap-traps "ad captandum vulgus," her marvellous tones are evolved in all their purity, beauty of modulation, and all-surpassing agility. The spectators do not suffer from the contemplation of those efforts, and that suffusion of the face, that straining of the nerves, blood-vessels, and muscles of the throat, which have degraded tragedy to melo-drama, and which would make one believe the audience had come to behold an execution, not a poetical performance. Such a style, we repeat, as that of Madame de Rossi, is essentially made for the enjoyment of select audiences, such as she found at St. Petersburg, within the precincts of the palace. The impression made was immense, and the effects lasting. To this cause is universally attributed the establishment on a noble scale of the Italian Opera at St. Petersburg, now become, in consequence of revolutions, which have destroyed elsewhere all art and refined industry, the chief resource of Italian artists in the winter. Such was the remembrance of the enjoyment, and such was the void left by the departure of Madame de Rossi, that Rubini was summoned to St. Petersburgh with a company of his own choosing, and at an outlay no other sovereign but the Czar could have borne.
The Russians of every class possess an ear for music; their performances in chorus, their extraordinary morçeaux d'ensemble of single noted wind instruments, sufficiently prove this assertion. Amongst the higher classes art is a passion; and with such gifts as she possesses, Countess Rossi naturally became the object of the utmost enthusiastic admiration. In the summer season, when St. Petersburg is abandoned, parties were made at country seats, purposely to secure her presence. It was at a princely residence in the country, that the witty author of the popular "Letters from the Baltic," met Countess Rossi, charming and attractive as in the first burst of her popularity.
The following extracts from this gifted lady's account of her meeting with Madame de Rossi, during a villegiatara at Revel, will be read with interest:—
"And now let me revert more particularly to one of the fairest ornaments, both in mind and person, which our party possesses, whose never-clouded name is such favorite property with the public as to justify me in naming it—I mean the Countess Rossi. The advantages which her peculiar experience and knowledge of society have afforded her, added to the happiest naturel that ever fell to human portion, render her exquisite voice and talent, both still in undiminished perfection, by no means her chief attraction in society. Madame Rossi could afford to lose her voice to-morrow, and would be equally sought. True to her nation, she has combined all the Liebenswürdigkeit of a German with the witchery of every other land. Madame Rossi's biography is one of great interest and instruction, and it is to be hoped will one day appear before the public. It is not generally known that she was ennobled by the King of Prussia, under the title of Mademoiselle de Launstein; and since absolute will, it seems, can bestow the past as well as present and future, with seven Ahnerrn, or forefathers—'or eight,' said the Countess, laughing, 'but I can't quite remember;' and though never disowning the popular name of Sontag, yet, in respect for the donor, her visiting cards when she appears in Prussia are always printed née de Launstein. We were greatly privileged in the enjoyment of her rich and flexible notes in our private circle, and under her auspices an amateur concert was now proposed for the benefit of the poor in Revel.