Mara’s Revenge

The singer Madame Mara had a husband with a serious drinking problem. She was the one who kept the household afloat, and for years she quietly endured his behavior.

Eventually it reached the king’s ears. Wanting to punish the husband, the king removed him from his post as cellist in the royal orchestra and “promoted” him—cruelly—to the bass drum in a regimental band. Mara decided she would not swallow the insult: she would take revenge on the king the only way she could, with her voice.

Soon the crown prince of Russia (the Czarowitz) visited the Prussian court, and a grand concert was planned in his honor. Mara was ordered to sing. On the evening itself she sent word that she was ill, but the king would not accept a refusal. An officer was dispatched to escort her; she insisted she was in bed, and he threatened to carry the bed itself to the theater—so she went.

On stage, she began by singing carelessly, as if determined to ruin the king’s evening. Then, halfway through, she suddenly changed: she sang brilliantly, acted with fierce intensity, and won the audience. The secret, it was said, was practical pride—she didn’t want the heir to the Russian throne to leave with a poor opinion of her art. So the king “won” after all.