t be classed with that group of dramatic singers who
were the interpreters of the school of music which arose in Germany
after the death of Mozart, and which found its characteristic type in
Carl Maria Von Weber, for Beethoven, who on one side belongs to this
school, rather belongs to the world, than to a single nationality.

Fanny Persiani, who was contemporary with Grisi and Viardot, was the
daughter of Tacchinardi, a tenor singer of no small reputation.
Tacchinardi was a dwarf, hunchbacked and repulsive in appearance, yet he
had one of the purest tenor voices ever given by nature and refined by
art, which, together with extraordinary intelligence and admirable
method of singing, and great facility of execution, elicited for him the
admiration of the public.

His daughter Fanny showed a passion for music almost as an infant, and
was carefully trained by her father. At eleven years of age she took
part in an opera as prima donna at a little theatre which Tacchinardi
had built near his country-place just out of Florence. She had a voice
of immense compass, to which sweetness and flexibility were added by
study and practice. She married Joseph Persiani, an operatic composer,
at the age of twelve, for her father did not wish her to go on the
stage, and thought that an early marriage would change her tastes. For
several years she lived in seclusion at her husband's house; but at last
an opportunity offered to sing in opera, and she was unable to resist
it. Madame Persiani belonged to the same style as Sontag, not only in
character of voice but in all her sympathies and affinities. Moscheles,
in his diary, speaks of the incredible technical difficulties which she
overcame, and compares her performance with that of a violinist, for she
could execute the most florid, rapid, and difficult music with such ease
as to excite the wonder of her hearers. Aside from her wonderful
executive art in singing, Madame Persiani will be remembered as having
contributed, perhaps, more than any other singer to making the music of
Donizetti popular. Her death occurred in 1867.

The name of Jenny Lind will be remembered when Malibran, Grisi, and many
of the greatest singers have sunk into oblivion, because of her good
works. Besides being one of the few perfect singers of the century, her
life was characterized by deep religious principles and innumerable
charitable works, of which not the least was the use of the fortune of
over $100,000, whi