A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Hayes, Catharine
HAYES, CATHARINE,
Is a public singer, celebrated for her full rich soprano voice, and her power of giving unrivalled effect to the pathetic ballad music of her native country, Ireland, where she was born about the year 1820, in the town of Limerick. She was of humble parentage, and her musical powers developed themselves very early, gaining for her friends and patrons who undertook the charge of procuring for her the necessary instructions. In 1839 she was placed under the care of Signor Sapio, of Dublin; here she remained three years, occasionally singing at public concerts, always with a manifest increase of power and musical proficiency. At about the end of this period Grisi and Mario visited Dublin, and Miss Hayes, who heard them in "Norma," at once determined to give her attention to the lyric drama. She went to Paris, and studied under Emmanuel Gracia, the instructor of Malabran and Jenny Lind. Here she remained for about eighteen months, and then by the advice of her teacher, repaired to Milan, and placed herself under the tuition of Signor Renani, in order to acquire the dramatic facility necessary for her chosen career. In 1846 she made her debût at the opera house of Marseilles; her success was most decided, and she was offered an engagement, which she accepted, as primæ donna at La Scala, in Milan. On her first appearance there the enthusiasm caused by her singing was such, that she was called twelve times before the curtain. From Milan she went, in 1846, to Vienna, and the year after to Venice; thence through the principal Italian cities, making everywhere the same favourable impression, which was confirmed on her appearance in London, in 1849.
In 1851 Miss Hayes visited America, and remained for a time in California, gathering golden opinions, and the more substantial ore itself. In 1855 we hear of her at the Sandwich Islands, and at a later period in Australia and British India, so that her musical tour is as extensive as it is, no doubt, profitable. Miss Hayes is thought to be greatest in tender and pathetic characters, such as those of the Linda and Lucia of Denizetta. Before her appearance no Irishwoman had ever reached the higher flights of the operatic muse.