# Emma Romer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Emma_Romer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Emma_Romer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Romer > Source revision: 1307809580 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} [[File:(Possibly) Emma Romer.jpg|thumb|Drawing, possibly of Emma Romer, by [Alfred Edward Chalon](/source/Alfred_Edward_Chalon), pencil and watercolour, circa 1836]] '''Emma Romer''', afterwards '''Emma Almond''' (1814–1868) was a leading British [soprano](/source/soprano) of the 19th century, and for three years a theatre manager and producer. ==Biography== Emma Romer, born in 1813, was the daughter of John Romer and his wife, Elizabeth Cooper. The Romers were a theatrical family - "uncles! aunts! cousins! brothers! sisters! - all have "smelt the lamp"', as a contemporary publication puts it.{{sfn|Baron-Wilson|1844}} She was a pupil of James Elliot, and later of [Sir George Smart](/source/George_Thomas_Smart) (according to the [Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography). Another source indicates she was first taught by a Mr. Watson, and then for a short period by Smart, and afterwards - Smart's fees being more than the family could afford - by Elliot).{{sfn|Baron-Wilson|1844}} Her first theatrical appearance was announced at [Covent Garden Theatre](/source/Royal_Opera_House) for 16 October 1830, when, as Clara in ''[The Duenna](/source/The_Duenna)'', she exhibited a soprano voice of great volume and compass, together with considerable dramatic talent. But the faultiness of her voice-production, and failure in the technique of her art, checked her immediate progress.{{sfn|Middleton|1897}} The suggestion is that her talent - at least in her early years - was limited by the quality of her teachers.{{sfn|Baron-Wilson|1844}} In 1834, however, after appearing at Covent Garden as Zerlina in ''[Fra Diavolo](/source/Fra_Diavolo_(opera))'' and Rosina in ''[The Barber of Seville](/source/The_Barber_of_Seville)'' (for her benefit), Miss Romer was engaged at the [English Opera House](/source/Lyceum_Theatre%2C_London), where she created the rôles of Eolia in [John Barnett's](/source/John_Barnett_(composer)) ''[The Mountain Sylph](/source/The_Mountain_Sylph)'' and Zulima in [Edward Loder's](/source/Edward_Loder) ''Nourjahad'', under the management of [Samuel James Arnold](/source/Samuel_James_Arnold). In the winter she returned to Covent Garden, where, in 1835, as Amina in ''[La sonnambula](/source/La_sonnambula)'', she "reached the topmost round of the ladder of fame", according to the ''Theatrical Observer''. But she immediately afterwards declined a minor part, and threw up her Covent Garden engagement. Subsequently, as Agnes in ''[Der Freischütz](/source/Der_Freisch%C3%BCtz)'' and Liska in ''[Der Vampyr](/source/Der_Vampyr)'' (Lyceum, 1835), she won much admiration.{{sfn|Middleton|1897}} In September 1835 she married George Almond, an army contractor. After her marriage Mrs. Almond appeared at Covent Garden as Esmeralda in ''Quasimodo'', a [pasticcio](/source/pasticcio) from the great masters. The death of [Maria Malibran](/source/Maria_Malibran) in 1836 afforded her further opportunities, and she now filled the chief rôles in English and Italian opera at Drury Lane, appearing in ''[Fair Rosamond](/source/Rosmonda_d'Inghilterra)'' (1837), ''[The Maid of Artois](/source/The_Maid_of_Artois)'', ''[La favorite](/source/La_favorite)'', ''[Robert le diable](/source/Robert_le_diable)'', ''[The Bohemian Girl](/source/The_Bohemian_Girl)'', ''[Maritana](/source/Maritana)'', and many other pieces.{{sfn|Middleton|1897}} In 1852 she undertook the management of the [Surrey Theatre](/source/Surrey_Theatre), where, during three seasons, she brought out a series of operas in English. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Almond retired from her profession, settling at [Margate](/source/Margate). She died there, aged 54, on 11 April 1868, and was buried in [Brompton Cemetery](/source/Brompton_Cemetery).{{sfn|Middleton|1897}} ==Critical appraisal== Romer is described as "one of the leading sopranos of her day in English opera",{{sfn|Bratton|2011}} with a big voice of great compass,{{sfn|Cockrell|1989}} and was a general favourite of audiences.{{sfn|Baron-Wilson|1844}} ==Family== Her brother, Frank Romer (1810–1899) was a composer, singing teacher and member of a publishing firm. He was a professor of music at [Trinity College of Music](/source/Trinity_Laban_Conservatoire_of_Music_and_Dance) in London.{{sfn|de Montfort|2018|page=19}} Her sister Helen (d. 1890) was wife of [Mark Lemon](/source/Mark_Lemon), founding editor of both ''[Punch](/source/Punch_(magazine))'' and ''[The Field](/source/The_Field_(magazine))''. [Ann Romer](/source/Ann_Romer) (d. 1852), the vocalist, who married [William Brough](/source/William_Brough_(writer)), was Emma Romer's first cousin.{{sfn|Middleton|1897}} ==References== {{Commons}} {{reflist|30em}} ;Works cited * {{cite book|last1=Baron-Wilson|first1=Margaret Harries |title=Our Actresses: Or, Glances at Stage Favourites, Past and Present, Volume 2|date=1844|publisher=Smith Elder & Co.|location=65, Cornhill, London, England |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1FwzAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA299|pages=299–301}} * {{cite book|last1=Bratton|first1=Jacky |title=The Making of the West End Stage: Marriage, Management and the Mapping of Gender in London 1830-1870|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, England |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4owp1yPxXLwC&pg=PA106 |page=106|isbn=9781139502221 }} * {{cite book|last1=Cockrell|first1=Dale|title=Excelsior: Journals of the Hutchinson Family Singers, 1842-1846|date=1989|publisher=Pendragon Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOHp-02neWgC&pg=PA357|page=357|isbn=9780918728654}} * {{cite book | last= de Montfort | first= Patricia | title= Louise Jopling: A Biographical and Cultural Study of the Modern Woman Artist in Victorian Britain | year= 2018| location=London | publisher= Routledge | isbn= 978-1-138-35272-8}} * {{cite DNB|first=Lydia Miller |last=Middleton|wstitle=Romer, Emma|volume=49 }} ;Attribution {{DNB|first=Lydia Miller |last=Middleton|wstitle=Romer, Emma|volume=49}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Romer, Emma}} Category:1814 births Category:1868 deaths Category:19th-century British women opera singers Category:English operatic sopranos Category:English theatre managers and producers Category:British women theatre managers and producers Category:19th-century English businesspeople --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Emma Romer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Romer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Romer?action=history)). 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