THALBERG, Zare [MACKENZIE or THALBERG, Nazzarena] (b New York, 16 April 1858; d Naples, 11 January 1921)

This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century Victorian vocalist Zare Thalberg. The prodigy was, by name, Mlle Zare Thalberg, and she did indeed – with a certain amount of tambour bashing – join a London Italian opera company for the 1875 season, sharing the soprano bills with Patti, Marie Marimon, Maria Vilda, Emma Albani, Clarice Sinico and Anna d'Angeri, not at Mr Mapleson's Her Majesty's Theatre, but at Mr Gye's rival Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. For Fra Diavolo, Mlle Thalberg was teamed with the tenor Naudin, and with Sofia Scalchi and the inevitable Ciampi as the Kokburgs. On 4 October 1875, the Italian Opera Company opened a season at Dublin. Zare made her Dublin debut with Maurel in Don Giovanni, and this time – with Vilda and d'Angeri replaced by the more modest Mme Paoli and Mlle Ghiotti – there was no doubt who was the star of the affair.