Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa

Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa (7 May 1836 – 21 January 1874) was a British operatic soprano who established the Carl Rosa Opera Company together with second husband Carl Rosa. Her achievements were recognised by the Philharmonic Society of London (now the Royal Philharmonic Society) with the rare award of their Gold Medal in 1872.

Euphrosyne Parepa was born in Edinburgh, to the soprano Elisabeth Seguin (sister of basso Arthur Edward Seguin) and the Wallachian boyar Demetrius Parepa, Baron Georgiades de Boyescu of Bucharest. Her father died when Parepa was an infant, leaving her young mother impoverished. Parepa's mother turned to the stage to support her child and herself and trained the girl in singing.

Her operatic début was at the age of 16 in Malta as Amina in La Sonnambula, followed by engagements in Naples, Genoa, Rome, Florence, Madrid, and Lisbon. She sang at the Lyceum Theatre, London, for the 1857 season (the year after the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden burnt down), and between 1859 and 1865 appeared in opera at both Covent Garden and Her Majesty's Theatre. During this time, she participated in two operatic premieres, creating the title role in Alfred Mellon's Victorine on 19 December 1859, and the role of Mabel in George Alexander Macfarren's opera Helvellyn on 5 November 1864. She sang with Charles Santley at the opening of the Oxford Music Hall in 1861. She also was a successful oratorio and concert soloist, in constant demand in Britain, and she participated in the 19th-century English revival of the music of George Frideric Handel.

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