BLOCH, ROSINE:
French singer; born in Paris in 1844; daughter of a merchant. She was very beautiful and had a magnificent mezzosoprano voice. She studied at the Conservatoire, and received in 1865 the first prize for singing and the first prize for opera. Finding an engagement soon after at the Opera in Paris, she made a brilliant début in the rôle of Azucena in "Il Trovatore." In 1867 she created the rôle of Chloris, in "La Fiancée de Corinthe," by Duprato; and in 1873 that of Claribel in "La Coupe du Roi de Thule," by Diaz. When, in 1880, "Aïda" was put on the stage, Bloch undertook with great success the rôle of Amneris. For fifteen years she was a member of the Opera at Paris.
She might have attained to the foremost rank in grand opera had her magnificent voice been supplemented by a temperament less cold and by a more pronounced dramatic instinct.
