Editing Pauline Viardot (section)

==Early life==
Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García Sitches was born in Paris. Her father, [[Manuel García (tenor)|Manuel]], a [[tenor]], was a Spanish singing teacher, composer and [[impresario]]. Her mother was [[Joaquina Sitches]], a Spanish actress and operatic singer. Her godparents were [[Ferdinando Paer]] and Princess Pauline Galitsin, who provided her with her middle names.<ref name=Grove>[[Eric Blom]] ed., Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th edition, 1954<!--ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref> She was 13 years younger than her sister, [[Maria Malibran]], a highly acclaimed and famous [[diva]]. Her father trained her on the piano and also gave her singing lessons.<ref name=Figes>{{cite book|author-link=Orlando Figes|first=Orlando|last=Figes|title=The Europeans|publisher=Allen Lane|year=2019|isbn=978-0-241-00489-0}}</ref>

As a little girl, she travelled with her family to London, New York City (where her father, mother, brother and sister gave the first full performance of Mozart's ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' in the United States, in the presence of the librettist, [[Lorenzo Da Ponte]]<ref name="Musical criticism.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/viardot.htm|title=Pauline Viardot: Opera Rara - MusicalCriticism.com (CD review)|access-date=2 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429093008/http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/viardot.htm|archive-date=29 April 2009}}</ref>) and [[Mexico City]], where she started her musical career.<ref name=Pareyon>[[Gabriel Pareyon]] ed., ''Diccionario Enciclopédico de Música en México'', vol. II, 2007, isbn 968-5557-79-9.</ref>

By the age of six she was fluent in Spanish, French, English, and Italian. Later in her career, she sang Russian arias so well that she was taken for a native speaker.<ref name="hilde"/> After her father's death in 1832, her mother, soprano [[Joaquina Sitches]], took over her singing lessons, and forced her to focus her attention on her voice and away from the piano.<ref name=Figes/> She had wanted to become a professional concert pianist. She had taken piano lessons with the young [[Franz Liszt]]<ref name="Musical criticism.com"/><ref name=harris>{{cite web |url=http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04082005-095548/unrestricted/Harris_dis.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307112626/http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04082005-095548/unrestricted/Harris_dis.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 March 2007 |title=The Music Salon of Pauline Viardot: Featuring Her Salon Opera, ''Cendrillon'' |website=Etd.lsu.edu |access-date=11 August 2016 }}</ref> and counterpoint and harmony classes with [[Anton Reicha]], the teacher of Liszt and [[Hector Berlioz]] and friend of [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]. It was with the greatest regret that she abandoned her strong vocation for the piano, which she did only because she did not dare to disobey her mother's wishes.<ref name=harris/>

She remained an outstanding pianist all her life, and often played duets with her friend [[Frédéric Chopin]], who approved of her arranging some of his mazurkas as songs, and even assisted her in this. Liszt, [[Ignaz Moscheles]], [[Adolphe Adam]], [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] and others have left accounts of her excellent piano playing.<ref name=harris/>

After Malibran's death in 1836, aged 28, Pauline became a professional singer, with a vocal range from C3 to F6.  However, her professional debut as a musician was as a pianist, accompanying her brother-in-law, the violinist [[Charles Auguste de Bériot]].<ref name=harris/>