Portrait engraving after Edme Quenedey, ca. 1810-20

Image size ca. 115 x 94 mm, sheet size 265 x 182 mm. On wove paper. Head and shoulders, in profile, oval. With "Paÿr" lightly pencilled beneath image. Without letters, thus a possible proof.

From the collection of the distinguished American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne (b. 1934).

Slightly worn, browned, and foxed; dampstaining to lower blank margin; trimmed within platemark; small print collector's oval handstamp to verso ("Bowinkel"). Identified in pencil on verso as being engraved by Rosaspina and published by Bettoni; we have not, however, been able to verify this attribution. The image is based on that executed by Edme Quenedey in 1809.

"[Paer] was one of the central figures in the development of opera semiseria during the first decade of the 19th century. ... In his vocal writing Paer provided a link between late 18th-century composers (Cimarosa and Paisiello) and Rossini and his followers. Like those of his predecessors, Paer's works overflow with sweet, luminous italianate melodies organized in elegant phrases and supported by transparent harmonies. ... Paer had a talent for inventing vocal filigree - his fioriture constitute a primary source of aesthetic and dramatic effect in many of his melodies - and the patterns that he devised show striking similarities to Rossini's repertory of ornaments." Scott L. Balthazart and Julian Budden in Grove Music Online.

"Horne had a voice of extraordinary range, rich and tangy in timbre, with a stentorian chest register and an exciting top... In concert she once achieved the feat of singing in a single programme Rossini arias and Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene, proof of her exceptional versatility. Throughout her lengthy career she was an admired recitalist, singing lieder, mélodies, Spanish and American songs with equal aplomb." Alan Blyth in Grove Music Online.