A Spaniard
born in Cuba in 1849 [or 1846], he found a safe haven in New York during the
Cuban Revolution in 1868. After studying with Sarony, he opened his first studio
in 1870 at 707 Broadway. Mora was noted for his extensive collection of painted
backdrops (over 150), many designed by himself, that hung in his studio. A great
deal of his profit was earned from selling these celebrity images (called
"publics") in theaters, hotels and other establishments all over the world.
Later in his life Mora chose to live as a recluse at the Hotel Breslin in New
York for the last fifteen years of his life. His meals subsisted mainly of
fifteen-cent pies and cakes, and other food given to him by hotel guests, even
though it was said that he had several savings accounts and property in Cuba and
on Long Island. In September of 1926 he was declared incompetent by a sheriff's
jury who based their opinion on his appearance and incoherent talk. Earlier in
the year he had been sent to St. Vincent's Hospital after he had been found
unconscious in his room. When his room was searched it was found to have been
littered with scraps of food, and barely alive in a box were two pigeons. His
bathroom was secured with four padlocks, and the bathtub filled with theatre
programs and newspapers from years ago. Photographs of dead celebrities, and old
theatre clippings decorated his walls and tables. Mora passed away on 18 Oct
1926 (the newspapers reported his age to be eighty) at St. Vincent's Hospital.
His only next of kin were reported to be cousins in Brazil, N.Y., and Cuba, and
a sister who was said to be the wife of the Brazilian Ambassador to Germany in
the days of Bismarck.
(1) Italo
Campanini (Parma: 30 June 1845 - Parma: 22 Nov 1896): Italian tenor, brother
of Cleofonte Campanini. Debut in Parma (1863) as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia.
First Italian Lohengrin (Bologna, 1871). London debut at Drury Lane in 1872 as
Gennaro as well. Sang Faust in the first performance at the Metropolitan Opera
(22 Oct 1883).
Campanini superstition:
"Campanini couldn't get along unless he had a dried prune in his
waistcoat pocket."
Brooklyn Eagle 8 Jul 1888.
(2) Giuseppe Del Puente
(Naples: 30 Jan 1841 - Philadelphia: 25 May 1900), Italian baritone. He first
studied with the cello at the Naples Conservatory. He made his debut at Iasi,
Romania. Early in his career he appeared in Naples (at the Teatro San Carlo),
Spain (1870), Rome (1873: Teatro Argentina), London (1873: Drury Lane), Parma (Teatro
Regio) and La Scala (1875). In 1878 he appeared at the New York Academy of Music
(another source has him making an appearance there in 1874). In 1883 he sang
Valentin in Faust in the first ever performance at the Metropolitan
Opera. Del Puente had a son, Joseph, who was also a baritone but his career was
brief. Seen here as Escamillo.
(3) Etelka Gerster (as
Marguerite in Faust): Hungarian dramatic soprano (25 Jun 1855 - 20 Aug
1920). Studied with Marchesi in Vienna. Debut in Venice as Gilda in
Rigoletto (8 Jan 1876). Great successes in Berlin and Budapest. Married
Carlo Gardini. London and NY (Academy of Music) debuts as Amina in
Sonnambula. She was an Adelina Patti rival, and her success caused some
bitter feelings between the two singers.
(4)
Roberto Stagno:
Italian tenor
(1840-1897): Made his debut (1862) in Lisbon as Rodrigo in Rossini's Otello.
He was popular in South America, Spain, and Italy. He created the role of
Turridu in the premiere of Cavalleria Rusticana (17 May 1890). He sang
at the Metropolitan Opera during its inaugural season (1883-84). He married
Gemma Bellincioni in 1886, and together they had a daughter, Bianca
(1888-1980), who studied as a soprano with her mother.
(5)
Victor Capoul:
French tenor (2 Feb 1839 - 13 Feb 1924): Debut (1861) at the Opéra-Comique in
Le Chalet. Sang mostly in London, Paris, and NY. He lost his entire
fortune to speculation. Bitter, he burned all of the mementos he collected
over the years. Rare recordings on Fonotipia exist but mostly recorded later
in his career.
(6)
Clarice Campobello [Clarice Sinico - née Marini]: Italian soprano. Sang
Donna Elvira at the Academy of Music (New York) 6 Nov 1878 with Frapolli, Del
Puente, Minnie Hauk and others. She also appeared in a matinee Carmen
there on 16 Nov 1878 as Micaela. A rare signed image of the soprano.
(7)
Guiditta Faentini Galassi: Wife of Antonio Galassi. At the time of this
photograph Antonio Galassi was singing with the Mapleson Company. Signora
Galassi appeared with pianist Jossefy at Brooklyn's Academy of Music on 28 Oct
1879. She is "a singer of merit, and will be likely to establish herself in
popular favor. She has a pleasing mezzo-soprano voice, and although apparently
not quite at home on the concert stage, the impression she made was agreeable
and creditable to her. Her two songs, O Mio Fernando, from La
Favorita and the Brindisi from Lucrezia Borgia were hardly
in keeping with the character of the rest of the concert. Nevertheless, she
made a successful debut and was heartily encored in both, responding with
Mozart's Voi che sapete the first time, and repeating a part of
Brindisi afterward. Her task was somewhat thankless and difficult, and she
deserves credit for her performance. The house was well filled with an
audience of the best character." On 12 Oct 1879 the rumor that Guiditta and
Antonio Galassi would be coming to New York for the season appeared in the
New York Times. They had just appeared together on the stage in Parma in Marchetti's Ruy Blas as Casilda and Don Salustio, respectively. "This
lady [Signora Galassi], by the way, is unknown to our country, but enjoys a
high musical fame in Italy, Spain, and Mexico ...."
(8-9)
Minnie Hauk [orig. Mignon Hauck] American soprano (26 Nov 1851 - 6 Feb
1929): Debut Brooklyn 1866 as Amina. London CG, Paris, Brussels, Moscow,
Berlin. First American Juliette (which she sang the day before her 16th
birthday), Carmen (seen here), and Manon. Appeared one season at the Met and
then organized her own opera company. She retired at the height of her career
to live with her husband at Wagner's villa at Triebschen. Lost her fortune
during WW I and was thereafter supported through donations from American opera
lovers. Both of these cabinet card images were taken in the same 'sitting'.
The second one was damaged by an inkwell spill.
(10)
Sofia Scalchi: Italian mezzo-soprano (29 Nov 1850 - 22 Aug 1922): Debut
Mantua 1866 as Ulrica. London CG (1868 - 1890). Toured US with Mapleson
company. She was Siebel at the opening of the Metropolitan Opera (1883). First
American Mistress Quickly, La Cieca, and Emilia. Great volume and range, and
command of coloratura. Said to have four (perhaps uneven) registers. A
seemingly innocent portrait, Scalchi is wearing a brooch with "Calve" engraved
on it. A gift from Emma Calvé?
(11)
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.
(12)
Antonio Galassi: Italian baritone (1845 - 1904): Covent Garden 1875
Italian Royal Opera season. Father to Elvira Galassi di Lorenzo (Cesena: 30
Aug 1883 - Mailand: 21 Apr 1954). Galassi was part of Adelina Patti's touring
company along with Mme Fabbri (contralto), Louise Engel (mezzo), Durwald Lely
(tenor), and Franco Navara (bass) [Music Hall: New York: 13 Nov 1893]. Also at
the Music Hall on 21 Feb 1893, Galassi participated in a benefit (Orthopedic
Dispensary and Hospital) concert of Wagner's music. He was not well received:
"The same cannot be said for Signor Galassi, except in one instance when he
lost the pitch on an entrance. In other places he had a firm grip on every
note, and he kept it till his breath was well-nigh spent. His phrasing was
consequently highly original and not lovely." He was seen at Chickering Hall
in New York [2 Feb 1892] giving a concert (with Emil Fischer, Italo Campanini,
Victor Herbert [as a cellist], among others) for the benefit of the basso,
Clemente Bologna who had been sick and disabled for a long time.
(13) Husband and wife, Antonio Galassi and Guiditta Faentini Galassi.
(14)
Zélie De Lussan: American (Brooklyn) mezzo-soprano (1861 - 18 Dec
1949): Concert debut at 16 in the Academy of Music (NY). Stage debut 1884 in
Boston with the Boston Ideal Opera Company, 1885. Great success at Covent
Garden (1895 - 1902). She sang Anne in the first American performance of
Falstaff (Met Opera: 4 Feb 1895). Married pianist Angelo Fronani. Rare
Victor records.
Mlle Zelie de Lussan, prima donna, has changed her mind.
This in itself is nothing remarkable, for she is a woman, and, as the world
knows, it is a woman’s privilege to alter her opinion as often and whenever
she pleases. The point on which she has changed her mind that is of interest
to Brooklynites, however, is on her expressed determination to become a
vaudevillienne at the weekly pittance of $2,000, for it was in this city and
at the Adams street theater that she was to first see a metropolitan audience
over the vaudeville footlights. But, now that her mind is made up to the
contrary, Brooklyn theater-goers will have to struggle along as best they can
--- unless she changes it again….She was simply holding off for a raise. [The]
demoiselle has written to the representative of Messrs. Hyde & Behman to the
effect that they could not offer her money enough to tempt her to sing twice a
day, “not even if I were to receive $5,000 per week,” as she tersely says in
her letter. And now for the reason. Mlle de Lussan is, it seems, betrothed to
one Chevalier d’Acosta, a don of Spain, and, when it was flashed under the
ocean that his inamorata was to do a turn in the vaudevilles, he was in a
mighty rage. Hyde & Behman were greatly disappointed over Mlle. Zelie de
Lussan’s decision, for they regarded her conversion to the lighter form of
amusement as a direct result of their efforts, and said last evening that they
considered the Chevalier d’Acosta’s interference with their plans as a good
cause for a suspension of diplomatic relations between Uncle Sam and the don.
Brooklyn Eagle 17 Feb 1901
(15) Clara Louise Kellogg
(Sumterville, SC: 12 Jul 1842 - New Haven, CT: 13 May 1916). American soprano
and impresario. She made her debut at the NY Academy of Music (27 Feb 1861) as
Gilda (Rigoletto). She was the first New York Marguerite (Faust)
(25 Nov 1863). London debut (2 Nov 1867) as Marguerite at Her Majesty's
Theatre. In 1872 she formed an opera company with Pauline Lucca and then
formed her own, the English Opera Company. She retired in 1887.
(16-17)
Marie Roze [orig. Hippolyte Ponsin] (2 mar 1846 - 21 Jun 1926): French
soprano. Debut Paris Opéra-Comique (1865) in Herold's Marie. London;
Carl Rosa U.S. tour; First London Manon. Married Mapleson's son, had son
Raymond Roze (1875-1920) who produced opera at Covent Garden.
(18) Therese Tietjens [also Tietiens] (1831-
1877): A Mora image of the German soprano (of Hungarian parents). She made her
debut (1848) as Erma in Le Macon in Hamburg. She was London's first
Amelia (un Ballo in Maschera), Marguerite (Faust), Leonora
(La Forza del Destino), Elena (Vêpres Siciliennes), Mireille, and
Medea. On 13 Apr 1858 Tietjens opened the season at Her Majesty's Theatre in
London as Valentin in Huguenots. The Queen, who was in attendance, said
"It was beautiful." Tietjen's appearances were a great success. By the late
1870s Tietjens, who in her later years often performed in pain, died of cancer
and was buried in London's Kensal Green Cemetery. Mora does not disappoint us
with this winter scene of Madame Tietjens on a frozen lake.
(19) American (naturalized)
soprano Emma Juch (Vienna: 4 Jul 1863 - New York: 6 Mar 1939). Juch's
parents were Austrian and Emma was born while they were visiting America. She
made her debut (1881) at Her Majesty's in London as Philine (Mignon). Shortly
thereafter she appeared at the New York Academy of Music in the same role. She
was part of the National Opera Company. When it ran into difficulties she
reorganized the company into the Much Grand Opera Company, which toured
throughout the States, Canada, and Mexico. She was very much a champion of
singing opera in English.
