Pasqua

Overview

"Mme Pasqua", the prima donna of the opera in Nice in the 1875–76 season. Mon Journal t.6 index: «Pasqua, cantatrice, 169-172, 201, 207, 216, 254, 291».

In the diary

• 049/1875-11-15: sings «Connais-tu le pays» in Thomas's Mignon; Audiffret listens to her «avec une attention incroyable».
• 050/1875-12-01: «On donne "La Favorite", Pasqua chante comme un cœur.»
• 050/1875-12-03: «Le Surprenant ne regarde que Pasqua, et ne va que dans les coulisses.»
• 050/1875-12-22: her yellow boots in Mignon.
• 051/1875-12-30 (051.0170): Marie weeps at the opera; «Il est vrai que Pasqua est une merveilleuse comédienne.»
• 051/1876-01-01: «Pasqua a des expressions et des mouvements dramatiques si naturels, qu'elle me ravit et m'émeut.»

Identity uncertain

We are not sure who this is. The likeliest candidate is the Italian singer Giuseppina Pasqua (1851–1930), later Verdi's first Mistress Quickly, who began as a soprano and retrained as a mezzo-soprano in the 1870s (Wikipedia, "Giuseppina Pasqua"): Mignon and Léonor in La Favorite, the roles Marie hears in Nice, are both mezzo parts. But no source found places her in Nice in 1875–76 (0.5). Sources checked: Mon Journal t.6 index; Wikipedia; web searches (2026-10-21, 2026-10-22). If you can identify her, we would be glad to hear from you.