(Marguerite-Joséphine) Désirée (Montagney) Artôt

(b Paris, 21 July 1835; d Berlin, 3 April 1907). Belgian mezzo-soprano, later soprano. After a successful début in Meyerbeer's Le prophète (Paris, 1858), she concentrated on the Italian repertory, singing Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and Leonora (Il trovatore). Most of her career was spent in Germany.