WILHELMINA SCHRÖDER-DEVRIENT.

Mme. Schröder-Devrient the Daughter of a Woman of Genius.--Her Early
Appearance on the Dramatic Stage in Connection with her Mother.--She
studies Music and devotes herself to the Lyric Stage.--Her Operatic
_Début_ in Mozart's "Zauberflôte."--Her Appearance and Voice.--Mlle.
Schröder makes her _Début_ in her most Celebrated Character,
_Fidelio_.--Her own Description of the First Performance.--A Wonderful
Dramatic Conception.--Henry Chorley's Judgment of her as a Singer and
Actress.--She marries Carl Devrient at Dresden.--Mme. Schröder-Devrient
makes herself celebrated as a Representative of Weber's Romantic
Heroines.--Dissolution of her Marriage.--She makes Successful
Appearances in Paris and London in both Italian and German
Opera.--English Opinions of the German Artist.--Anecdotes of her London
Engagement.--An Italian Tour and Reëngagements for the Paris and London
Stage.--Different Criticisms of her Artistic Style.--Retirement from the
Stage, and Second Marriage.--Her Death in 1860, and the Honors paid to
the Memory of her Genius.


I.

In the year 1832 German opera in its original form was introduced into
England for the first time, and London learned to recognize the grandeur
of Beethoven in opera, as it had already done in symphony and sonata.
"Fidelio" had been already presented in its Italian dress, without