(1)
Dutch baritone Anton van Rooy (1870-1932). He made his debut as Wotan at
the 1897 Bayreuth Festival at the insistence of Cosima Wagner. His commanding
appearance and his beautiful upper register created an immediate impression. In
1898 he joined the Metropolitan Opera, where he sang his Wotan fifty times
during his nine seasons there.
(2) Anton van Rooy seen here as Wotan.
(3)
Johanna Gadski
[Emilia Agnes]: German soprano (15 Jun 1872 - 22 Feb 1932): Debut Berlin
(Kroll Opera) 1889 as Undine. Damrosch Company, London CG, Met. Left America
when her husband was deported for his German connections. Bayreuth, Munich.
(4) Enrico Caruso as
the Duke in Rigoletto. Caruso made his Metropolitan Opera debut in this
role on 23 Nov 1903. He went on to appear in 38 other operas, and 861
performances with that company. The New York Tribune's Henry Krehbiel wrote, "Rigoletto
is not a tenor's opera . . . but Signor Caruso, the newcomer, di what he could
to make it so. He was musically the finest Duke that New York has heard for a
generation. . . . That 'La Donna e Mobile' was permitted to pass with but a
single repetition was due to the apathy of the audience. He had a gratifying
reception in the first act, however, though the honors of the evening went in
greatest measure to Mme. Sembrich and Signor Scotti."
(5) Enrico Caruso as
the Duke in Rigoletto.
(6) Lillian Nordica:
American soprano (Farmington, ME: 12 May 1857 - Batavia, Java: 10 May 1914): St. Petersburg, London CG, Met,
Milan, Manhattan Opera, Boston. Married Frederick A. Gower who was killed in a
balloon accident. Married and separated from Hungarian tenor Zoltan Dome.
Married for a third time (1909) to London banker George H. Young. During her 1913
farewell tour around the word and was shipwrecked off New Guinea. She was
rescued, brought to a hospital in Batavia, Java and died there.
(7) Lillian Nordica as
Isolde.
(8) Lillian Nordica as
Isolde.
(9) Marcella Sembrich.
(10)
Albert Alvarez: French
tenor(1861-1933). His early musical training included a position as a
bandmaster in France. He studied with Martini and made his debut (1887) in
Ghent as Faust, a role he reprised for his Paris Opéra debut in 1892. He
created more than ten roles for that house including Mirka in Augusta Holmes's
La Montagne Noire in 1895, Walther (Les Maitres Chantiers de
Nuremberg) in 1897, Manrique (le Trouvére), and Tristan (Tristan
et Isolde) in 1904, and Nicias in the world premiere of Thaïs
(1894).
(11) American baritone
David Scull Bispham (Philadelphia: 5 Jan 1857 – NY: 2 Oct 1921). He
studied in Florence with Vannuccini and in Milan with Lamperti. He made his
operatic debut in London in 1891 (1890?) and was the leading Wagnerian
baritone of the Metropolitan Opera Company from 1896 to 1903. He made his
debut at the Metropolitan Opera (1896) as Beckmesser in Meistersinger.
He was an early supporter of translating and performing foreign opera in the
English language.
Biography: A Quaker
Singer's Recollections, by David Bispham. New York, The Macmillan
Co., 1920.
(12) David Bispham as Wolfram in
Tannhäuser.
(13) Camille Seygard.
Soprano who performed secondary roles. She can be heard on Mapleson cylinders
made in the Metropolitan Opera on 3 Feb 1903 as Helmwige in a performance of
Die Walküre. She is listed in the cast but apparently did not warrant
an entry in the "Annals of the Metropolitan Opera." She also
appeared at the Orpheus Club in Springfield in 1896. Also known as Camille
Fischer-Seygard.
(14)
Johanna Gadski
as Pamina.
(15) Marcella Sembrich:
Polish soprano (15 Feb 1858 - 11 Jan 1935): Debut (1877) as Elvira (I
Puritani) in Athens. Dresden Royal Opera, Met, Paris, Milan, Berlin,
Vienna, Stockholm, Brussels. Equally adept with the piano and violin and often
accompanied herself. One of the most famous coloratura sopranos in operatic
history. Seen here in The Daughter of the Regiment.
To see
Marcella Sembrich and her jewels the average country woman will ride miles
over a railroad … and sit in a crowded and insufferably hot hall without her
dinner. When she has seen Sembrich and taken in the details of her gown and
her diamonds she is ready to hear the prima donna sing. And she does not wish
to hear her sing Mozart, though she can sing that as no other living singer
can. What the country woman desires is to be astounded by the agility of her
execution and by the peal of some wonderful high note. And, no matter how
Sembrich sings, the country woman will probably be disappointed because she
will not be able to tell the difference between this art and that of some such
singer as Ellen Beach Yaw. But she can say that she has seen the famous Polish
prima donna who gets any number of thousands of dollars a night at the
Metropolitan Opera House in New York. And that is something to live for.
W.J. Henderson. New York Times, 17 Sep 1899.
(16) German tenor Ernst
Kraus (1863-1941) as Siegfried. Early in his career Kraus toured the
United States with the Damrosch Opera Company. He appeared at the Metropolitan
Opera during the 1903-04 season, and at Covent Garden. This handsome tenor was
the leading tenor for twenty-seven years at the Berlin Opera where this work
first appeared. He made his debut (1893) in Mannheim as Tamino in
Zauberflöte.
(17) Geraldine Farrar:
American soprano (28 Feb 1882 - 11 Mar 1967): Debut Berlin (Hofoper) 1901 as
Marguerite. Created Amica (Mascagni), Goosegirl in Königskinder, Madame
Sans-Gêne, Suor Angelica. Huge Metropolitan Opera career. "Jerry-flappers."
Uncommon Dupont.
(18) Geraldine Farrar
as Cio-Cio San.
(19) Geraldine Farrar.
(20) Zélie De Lussan:
American mezzo-soprano (1861 - 1949): Debut (1884) Boston. Covent Garden
(1895-1902). First performance of Falstaff at the Met. Married pianist
Angelo Fronani. Records rare: Victor, Beka.
(21) Lillian Nordica. 1891 English census of 30 Fitzjohns Avenue in London.
Nordica was a widow at that time. With her then was George A. Walker, a
married American visitor, and a "manager of mechanical
engineering." With him was, perhaps, his daughter, Gracie Walker. Also with Nordica was a butler, a housemaid, and a cook.
Tracing Ms. Nordica's travels
via genealogy sources reveals some humorous results regarding her age. On one
passport application she solemnly swore she was born on 12 December
1862. In fact, her birth year can be found in the range of 1857 to 1868. The
older she got, the younger she got on paper. 12 May 1857 is the birth date
given in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.
