Rosina Palmer

Rosina Martha Hosanah Palmer (; 27 August 1844 – 16 June 1932) was an Australian opera singer, who often appeared as Mrs Palmer. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, she developed a soprano voice early on and accompanied her mother, opera singer Marie Carandini, on tours, singing with her family troupe. Palmer moved to Melbourne with her husband in 1866. Although she had a low income, she later became a successful singing teacher. Musicologist Thérèse Radic wrote that, despite being gifted, Palmer was constrained by her social position as a married woman, as was typical of her contemporaries.

Biography

Early life and career Rosina Martha Carandini was born on 27 August 1844 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. She was the eldest of the five daughters of Jerome Carandini, Marquis of Sarzano, and Marie Carandini . As her father had no money, the family was dependent on their mother's career as an opera singer. Rosina showed early promise in piano and placed first in school pianoforte competitions. Under the tuition of Frederick Augustus Packer, she developed a soprano voice. Her debut appearance was at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hobart.

Rosina appeared in the opera Norma as Adalgisa when she was fourteen, in which her mother played the title character. This role fuelled her mother's ambitions for her and she afterwards encouraged her only in singing. She initially had no interest pursuing a career in music and only appeared at charity concerts, but as Mrs Palmer joined her mother's concert company on an extended tour of Australia, New Zealand, India and the United States as "circumstances [rendered] it necessary". Four of her sisters joined in later years and they were known as the Carandini Family Troupe, until their father's death led to their mother abandoning the European tour in 1870.

Later career and death Palmer later became a successful singing teacher and was praised by celebrities she sang with, such as Charles Santley. Although she visited the United States, she had to return to Melbourne as her mother had fallen ill. One of her daughters, Emmeline Ida Louise Palmer, married Gilbert Wilson and moved to Brisbane in 1882. She became a soprano and was held in high esteem as "one of Brisbane's leading singers and [singing] teachers" at the height of her career.