Tchaikovsky
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Désirée Artôt

Mezzo-soprano (later soprano), who was briefly engaged to Tchaikovsky in 1869. Born Marguerite-Joséphine Désirée Montagney Artôt on 21 July 1835 in Paris, on stage she used the name Désirée Artôt or (after her marriage) Désirée Artôt de Padilla.

She was the daughter of Jean Désiré Montagney ARTÔT, horn player and professor at the Brussels Conservatory. She studied with Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Francesco Lamperti in London and Paris, making her debut at the Paris Opéra in 1858, Specialising in the Italian repertory, she toured throughout Europe, including Moscow in 1868-70 and 1875-76, and Saint Petersburg in the 1871-72 and 1876-77 seasons.

Tchaikovsky was introducted to Artôt in 1868 during her Moscow tour, and was immediately captivated by her artisitic talent and charm. His Romance in F minor, for piano, Op. 5 (1868) was dedicated to Artôt, and Tchaikovsky also wrote additional music for a production of Auber's opera Le Domino Noir, due to be staged for the singer's benefit in October 1868.

His proposal of marriage was apparently accepted immediately, in spite of the objections of some of the comoposer's friends (and in particular Nikolai Rubinstein, who believed that being the husband of a foreign singing celebrity would irreovcably damage Tchaikovsky's own musical career. However, it seems that Artôt's attentions were quickly diverted elsewhere (possibly as a result of Rubinstein's intervention), and in 1869 she married the Spanish baritone Mariano PADILLA Y RAMOS (1842-1906), and sang with him throughout Europe until his retirement. Their daughter, the soprano Lola ARTÖT DE PADILLA (1876-1933) also proved to have a highly successful operatic career.

At the end of 1887 Tchaikovsky met Artôt again in Berlin, for the first time since their engagement had ended in 1869. As a result of this meeting the Six French Songs, Op. 65 (1888) were written and dedicated to the singer, who died in Berlin on 3 April 1907, aged 71.