Sontag’s Revenge

Henrietta Sontag didn’t start at the top. Early in her career, supporters of her rival, Amelia Steininger, hissed her off the Vienna stage. Most singers would have been crushed. Sontag kept going—until she was celebrated across Europe as the leading German singer of her day.

Years later, at the height of her fame, she was riding through Berlin when she noticed a little girl guiding a blind woman. Moved, Sontag called the child over and asked who she was leading.

“My mother,” the girl said. “Amelia Steininger. She used to be a great singer, but she lost her voice. She cried so much about it that now she can’t see.”

Sontag asked for their address and told the child, “Tell your mother an old acquaintance will visit this afternoon.” She then sought them out, took both mother and daughter under her care, and even brought in a skilled eye doctor—though the attempt to restore the woman’s sight failed.

Sontag didn’t stop there. The following week she gave a benefit concert for her former rival, and people said she sang that night as if she had never sung before. If applause has meaning, it wasn’t only the hall that applauded.