eroine in Paer's opera of "Sargino," and her brilliant success decided
her career, as she was invited to take a position in the Viennese Opera.
Here she met the brilliant Mme. Fodor, then singing an engagement in the
Austrian capital. So great was this distinguished singer's admiration of
the young girl's talents that she said, "Had I her voice I should hold
the whole world at my feet."

Mlle. Sontag had the advantage at this period of singing with great
artists who took much interest in her career and gave her valuable hints
and help. Singing alternately in German and English opera, and always an
ardent student of music, she learned to unite all the brilliancy of
the Italian style and method to the solidity of the German school. The
beautiful young cantatrice was beset with ardent admirers, not the least
important being the English Ambassador Earl Clan William. He followed
her to theatre, to convents, church, and seemed like her shadow. Sontag
in German means Sunday; so the Viennese wits, then as now as wicked
and satirical as those of Paris, nicknamed the nobleman Earl Montag, as
Monday always follows Sunday. It was during this Vienna engagement that
Weber wrote the opera of "Euryanthe," and designed the principal
part for Sontag. But the public failed to fancy it, and called it
"L'Ennuyante." The serious part of her art life commenced at Leipsic in
1824, where she interpreted the "Freischutz" and "Euryanthe," then in
the flush of newness, and made a reputation that passed the bounds
of Germany, though foreign critics discredited the reports of her
excellence till they heard her.

"Henrietta's voice was a pure soprano, reaching perhaps from A or B to D
in alt, and, though uniform in its quality, it was a little reedy in the
lower notes, but its flexibility was marvelous: in the high octave, from
F to C in alt, her notes rang out like the tones of a silver bell. The
clearness of her notes, the precision of her intonation, the fertility
of her invention, and the facility of her execution, were displayed in
brilliant flights and lavish fioriture; her rare flexibility being a
natural gift, cultivated by taste and incessant study. It was to the
example of Mme. Fodor that Mile. Sontag was indebted for the blooming
of those dormant qualities which had till then remained undeveloped. The
ease with which she sang was perfectly captivating; and the neatness and
elegance of her enunciation combined with the sweetness and brillia