Born Marie Constance Sasse in
Oudenaarde, to a father who was a military band-master, she studied music at the
Ghent Conservatory with
François-Auguste Gevaert and in Milan with
Francesco Lamperti, and made her debut in
Venice as Gilda in Verdi's
Rigoletto in 1852.
Early career at the Théâtre Lyrique After the death of her father she found it necessary to work as a vocalist in the cafés of Brussels and Paris. The French soprano and vocal teacher
Delphine Ugalde happened to hear her at the Café Géant in Paris. Ugalde gave her singing lessons and brought her to the attention of
Léon Carvalho, who at that time was the director of the
Théâtre Lyrique. Sasse made her debut at that theatre using the stage name Marie Sax on 27 September 1859, performing Rosine (Countess Almaviva) in Mozart's
Les noces de Figaro.
Berlioz and Gluck's Orphée Sasse followed her initial success at the Théâtre Lyrique with performances as Eurydice in Gluck's
Orphée. The version of the opera which was used in this landmark revival was especially prepared by the composer
Hector Berlioz, who also coached and rehearsed the singers, with
Camille Saint-Saëns as his assistant. The opera had originally been written in Italian as
Orfeo ed Euridice for Vienna in 1762, and the role of Orfeo was performed by the
mezzo-soprano castrato Gaetano Guadagni. Gluck had decided to bring the opera to Paris in 1774, but castrato singers were unusual in France and sometimes objects of ridicule. Heroic lovers were generally played by high tenors, a voice type referred to in French as
haute-contre, so Gluck transposed and adapted the role of Orphée for the
haute-contre Joseph Legros. Unfortunately, the rise in standard pitch over the years had made the French version for
haute-contre impractical, and the opera was rarely performed.
Giacomo Meyerbeer suggested to the Spanish mezzo-soprano
Pauline Viardot that she should sing the role. Sasse's inexperience became quite evident during the rehearsals: Berlioz thought her "ignorant as a carp of everything to do with art", although Viardot allowed she had "a beautiful voice without art". Subsequently Sasse became rather famous for a question she asked Viardot at one of the rehearsals, during which in typical fashion Berlioz kept interrupting the proceedings to make suggestions: "That's Monsieur Gluck, isn't it?" "No, it's one of his friends." "Well, he's got a nerve –
in his absence!"
Final season at the Théâtre Lyrique Sasse next appeared at the Théâtre Lyrique beginning on 18 February 1860 as Bacchante in Gounod's
Philémon et Baucis. This production was less successful: "it merely fizzled out after 13 indifferent performances." Probably at least partly because of this failure, Carvalho resigned as director of the company on 1 April, and the quality of performances at the theatre began to decline. Sasse also appeared at the theatre in a revival of
Robin des bois (
Robin Hood), There were also two concerts: the first a benefit for Viardot on 20 April, in which Sasse and Viardot sang an excerpt from Gluck's
Armide; and the second, a benefit for Ugalde on 14 May, in which Sasse and Viardot sang in the last act of
Orphée.
Career at the Paris Opéra Sasse's success at the Théâtre Lyrique had been substantial, and she was engaged by the
Paris Opéra to sing Alice in Meyerbeer's
Robert le diable, making her house debut in the role on 3 August 1860. "Her voice was not yet mature, but it showed ample promise, and she was retained." Although the presentation was a fiasco, Wagner praised Sasse's performance. In her memoirs Sasse described preparing the role with Verdi: I have always loved working with authors and composers listening to their instructions trying to grasp their meaning ... Ah, but it was not the same as singing to Wagner or Meyerbeer! They were always patient, most careful to in no way hurt the feelings of an artiste. How different Verdi! He was exigeant hard, at times, I say it, almost cruel. Sharp words escaped him, and many times I have cried at the end of one of these hearings. Then the master, having cooled down would apologize for his roughness, speak kind words of encouragement, and we would begin all over again with enthusiasm. These lessons were of inestimable value to me, and, thanks to Verdi's counsel, my voice, still somewhat rough, became most flexible, and as a result of his teachings I achieved one of the greatest successes of my career. However, the performances had failed to generate much enthusiasm for the opera. The press reported that with the exception of Mlle Sax the singers had been "out of voice". After a few more performances the opera was replaced with
Il trovatore. There was one more revival in 1865, after which it vanished from the repertoire of the company entirely. During this period she was selected by
Giacomo Meyerbeer to create the role of Sélika in his new opera ''
L'Africaine''. She worked with him for three months preparing her part, and he agreed to some minor modifications to accommodate her capabilities. She sang the role at the premiere at the Paris Opéra on 28 April 1865. In 1866 she performed Anna in
Don Juan, a 5-act adaptation in French by Henri Blaze de Bury (son of
Castil-Blaze) and
Émile Deschamps which deviated significantly from the original, Mozart's
Don Giovanni. First performed at the Opéra in March 1834, this version was very popular and continued to be performed there up to 1934, when it was replaced with a new version by
Adolphe Boschot. In the year 1866 no fewer than three productions of
Don Juan were presented in Paris, each using a different edition: besides the one at the Opéra, there was another at the
Théâtre-Italien and a third at the Théâtre Lyrique. The year was made even more memorable for the singer, when the persistent Adolphe Sax again brought suit contesting her new stage name and insisting that his "individuality would suffer if she were allowed to continue using the name of Saxe." It was at this time that she began to use the stage name Sass. Walsh speculates "she may have disliked her real name because the word sasse in French means bailing scoop." Perrin wrote to Verdi about Guéymard: "If she commits herself firmly to undertake deep mezzo-soprano roles you might perhaps entrust her with the part of Eboli without changing a note of the tessitura, and we should gain by having two proven artists of incomparable cast." Verdi wrote back: "If you are not afraid of embarrassment resulting from rivalry between Mme Sass and Mme Gueymard, nothing could be better than Mme Gueymard for Eboli."
Julian Budden suggests "this was one of the factors which led to the eventual dropping of their one duet." By the time of the premiere on 11 March 1867, "all spontaneity had been lost." Verdi later wrote to Du Locle (14 March 1868): "Ah, if only Sasse could be persuaded that the part is better than she believes. In Italy
Stolz turned it into the main role." However, it should also be remembered that in 1867 Marie Sasse's marriage fell apart, and she divorced Armand Castelmary. After the French
defeat at Sedan, as Prussian troops began to approach Paris, plans were made to convert the nearly finished, but still unoccupied new opera house, the
Palais Garnier, into an emergency hospital. who then wrote to Giovanni Battista Lampugnani, the theatrical agent in Milan: "I have no use for her – either as Amneris, who is a mezzo-soprano, or as Aida, for other reasons." Draneht visited Verdi at his home in
Sant' Agata in May, where they discussed her further. Draneht, having been unaware of Verdi's opposition, had already signed her to sing Amneris. Verdi was adamantly opposed, not only because the part was too low, but because "I know from experience that it is in the interest of both the management and the composer to give her operas in which she is the only
soprano, or at least an opera which has no other role equal or superior to hers." Draneht was in a bad position: the opera was completely cast, and, as the artist's fees had been exceptionally high, the budget for singers had been expended. In order to hire another singer for the role, Draneht would need the approval of the
Viceroy of Egypt. Draneht tried to persuade Verdi that the mezzo-soprano Eleonora Grossi, who was already under contract with the company, would be able to sing the role, but Verdi resisted. Eventually Verdi received good reports about Grossi from other sources and relented. W. E. Haslam, in his 1911 book
Style in Singing, relates that Marie Sasse later stated that she had tried to prepare the role of Aida for the Cairo production, but found that at certain points the part was too high for her range. "As she was compelled by her contract to sing the opera, she asked Verdi to make some slight changes to bring the music within her reach. But he refused absolutely to make the least alteration." In speaking of it she said: "'Why should Verdi have shown himself more unreasonable or less yielding than Meyerbeer or Wagner?' (
plus intransigent, plus intraitable que Meyerbeer
ou Wagner?)." During the course of her career Sasse had also sung the title role in Donizetti's
Lucrezia Borgia and Amelia in Verdi's
Un ballo in maschera, and appeared in Brussels, Madrid, and Barcelona. She retired from the stage in 1877 at the age of forty-three, tried to make a living teaching voice, and in 1902 published her memoirs under the title ''Souvenirs d'une artiste
(Recollections of an artist''). She died in Paris in "abject poverty" at the age of 73. ==References==