(1)
Giovanni Mario [orig. Giovanni Matteo, Cavaliere di Candia] (17 Oct 1810 -
11 Dec 1883): Italian tenor. Debut Paris Opéra (1838) as Robert le Diable. Sang
in London from 1839 to 1871 at various theaters. He originally eloped with a
ballerina to Paris in 1836. Then he married Grisi in 1844. Sang in the world
premiere of Don Pasquale (1843). First London Gennaro, Ernesto, Duke of
Mantua, John of Leyden, and Roméo. He was poverty stricken after his retirement.
Considered to have had one of the finest voices of the 19th century. Photo by
Charles Bergamasco.
(2) French tenor
Fernand Francell as Leoni in Francesca da Rimini, a role he created. A
Nadar photograph.
(3)
Austrian soprano [Marie] Gabrielle Krauss (Vienna: 24 mar 1842 - Paris: 6
Jan 1906). She studied at the Vienna Conservatory with Marchesi. She made her
debut in Berlin (1859) as Mathilde in William Tell. Photo by Gaston &
Mathieu, Paris.
(4) Adelina Patti: Photo
by Leon Crémière, Paris. Identified on the back as Madame
de Caux, which dates this CDV pre-1878.
The Patti concert [at the Metropolitan Opera house]
last night was attended by a very large audience. There was quite a number
of empty boxes, but the rest of the house, especially the galleries, showed
no vacant spaces to speak of. [The] absence of what is called the
fashionable element was made an occasion for comment beyond the importance
of the incident. One person ought to be as good as another at an opera, if
he behaves himself, and better too, if he knows and enjoys music more than
the other with whom he is brought into comparison. In consequence of the
staying away of the customary tenants of the boxes, the music was heard
without interruption and there was no display of ill breeding, of the
vulgarity of audible talking and of the endeavor to draw notice from the
business which brought the people together to the clothes that some of the
throng had on. One ruffian who had a box near the main entrance entered it
drunk and began to talk out loud just before Patti commenced singing.... the
ushers soon induced the man to go home or had him put out of the building.
Brooklyn Eagle 13 Dec 1892
(5) Christine Nilsson as the
Queen of the Night. A Pierre Petit photo.
(6) Marie Van Zandt
(1858 - Cannes: 31 Dec 1919). American soprano. Two birth dates and locations
have been attributed to her: Texas: 8 Oct 1861 and New York: 8 Oct 1858. I'll
stick to the latter from The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. She was the first
Lakmé (Opéra-Comique: 14 Apr 1883), which was specially written for her by
Delibes. It was reported that her success in this role caused her jealous
Opéra-Comique colleagues to wrongfully accuse her of being drunk on stage.
She studied with her mother, Jennie Van Zandt, and in Milan with Lamperti. Her
debut was in Turin (1879) as Zerlina. "We have had French opera at the Gaiety
Theatre; but it has only served to show the remarkable natural talent of Mlle
Van Zandt, whose sole extraordinary qualification is an agile soprano voice
with a range that includes E natural in alt. She is supported by a company of
striking examples of the defects of the French school of singing, from which
she is herself by no means free." Bernard Shaw, Our Corner, July 1885.
This is a van Bosch, Paris, image.
(7)
Enrico Tamberlik (16 Mar 1820 - 13 Mar 1889): Italian (possibly Romanian)
tenor. Debut Rome (Dec 1837) as Arnold. Covent Garden regularly from 1850 to
1864, and again in 1870. NY, Paris, St. Petersburg, Madrid. Created Alvaro in
la forza del destino. First London Manrico and Cellini. This is a Mayer-Pierson (Lèopold Ernest Mayer
and Pierre Louis Pierson) photograph.
(8)
Daniel Auber
(1782-1871). He composed over 40 operas
including: Leséjour militaire (1813), La bergère châtelaine
(1820), Emma, ou La promesse imprudente (1821), Leicester, ou Le
château de Kenilworth (1823), La neige, ou Le nouvel Eginard
(1823), Le concert à la cour (1824), Le maçon (1825), Le
timide, ou Le nouveau séducteur (1826), Fiorella (1826), La
muette de Portici (1828), La fiancée (1829), Fra Diavolo
(1830), Le dieu et la bayadère (1830), Le philre (1831), Le
serment, ou Les faux-monnoyeurs (1832), Gustave III (1833), Le
cheval de bronze (1835), Actèon (1836), Les chaperons blancs
(1836), L'ambas-sadrice (1836), Le domino noir (1837), Le lac
des fées (1840), Zanetta (1840), La part du diable (1843),
La Sirène (1844), Haydée, ou Le secret (1847), L'enfant
prodique (1850), Zerline (1851), Marco Spada (1857),
Jenny Bell (1855), Manon Lescaut (1856), La circassienne
(1861), La fiancée du Roi de Garbe (1864), Le premier jour de
bonheur (1868), Réve d'amour (1869). Photo by Legé & Bergeren.
(9) Angiolina Bosio (Turin:
22 Aug 1830 - St. Petersburg: April 1859).
Italiansoprano. She studied
in Milan and made her debut (1846) there as Lucrezia in I due Foscari.
She repeated that role two years later in Paris and then traveled to North
America (New York, Philadelphia, and Boston) as part of the Havana Italian
opera Company. Two years later she appeared for the first time in Paris, again
as Lucrezia, and then went on an extended tour of North America. She made her
London début in 1852 at Covent Garden as Adina (L’elisir d’amore). The
following year she sang Gilda in the first London performance of Rigoletto.
According to the New Grove Dictionary of Opera she was engaged for the
1855–56 winter season in St Petersburg at a salary of 100,000 francs. However,
a newspaper story reported her presence at the Grand Opera of Paris in
September of 1856, so perhaps her appearance in Russia was a little later than
indicated. She died suddenly in Russia at the age of 28. A Mayer & Pierson
(Paris) CDV.
Trivia: Bosio
drank a glass of orgeat before her performances. Orgeat in its original format
was a sweet syrup made with a barley-almond blend. Today, however, it's
made with almonds, sugar and rose water.
(10) Jean De Reszke
[orig. Jan Mieczyslaw]: Polish tenor (14 Jan 1850 - 3 Apr 1925): Debut as
baritone (1874: Turin). Debut as tenor (1879: Madrid) as title role in Robert
le Diable. Paris premiere John the Baptist (Hérodiade). World
premiere Le Cid. Covent Garden, Met. A Nadar photo.
(11) Marcoux, Vanni [orig
Jean Èmile Diogène] (12 Jun 1877 - 21 Oct 1962): French bass-baritone. Debut
Bayonne 1889 as Frère Laurent. First English Arkel (Pelléas) and later
returned to Covent Garden to sing the role of Golaud (1937) in the same opera.
Appeared in France, Belgium, Covent Garden, Chicago, Boston. First American
Don Quichotte (Massenet), and Colonno in Février's Monna Vanna, which
he created in Paris (1909). He had a repertory of 240 roles. Director of the
Grand Theatre in Bordeaux after WW II. Photo by Nadar.
(12) French mezzo-soprano Rosine Bloch (Bischheim,
Bas-Rhin: 1832 - Nice: 1891) studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris
(under the direction of Battaille and Levasseur). She made her debut at the
Paris Opéra (13 Nov 1865) as Azucena in Le Trouvère (seen in this
image). She sang frequently at the Le Peletier theatre. She created roles in
La Fiancée de Corinthe and La Coupe du roi de Thulé. She retired
from opera in 1880. A Pierre Petit photo.
(13) Léon Gesse [also seen as Gresse] (1845 -
?): French bass seen here in his Paris Opéra premiere role as Hagen in Reyer's
Sigurd (12 Jun 1885). First Paris Opéra Ludovic (Othello), Pere
Saval (La Montagne noire), and Pogner (Les Maitres Chanteurs de
Nuremberg). A Benque, Paris, photo.
(14) Rose Caron [orig. Meuniez]: French soprano
(17 Nov 1857 - 9 Apr 1930): Stage debut Brussels 1883 as Alice (Robert le
Diable). At Monnaie created Brünehilde in Reyer's Sigurd (1884) as
well as his Salammbô (1890), and Godard's Jocelyn (1888). First
French Sieglinde and Desdemona. A Benque photo.
(15) Lucy Bertrand Berthet [also as Berthand]
(3 May 1866 [also given 15 May 1868] - ?): Belgian soprano. Studied with M.
Duvernoy. Debut Paris Opéra (25 Sep 1892) as Ophélie in Hamlet (25 Sep
1892). Sang in Ostend, Ghent, Brussels, Verviers, Opéra-Comique, Lyons, Monte
Carlo, and San Francisco. Sang in the first Paris Opéra La Walkyrie. A
Benque photo.
(16)
Christine Nilsson [orig. Tornerhjelm]
(20 Aug 1843 - 22 Nov 1921): Swedish soprano. She made her debut (1864) as
Violetta in La Traviata at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris. Her operatic
credits include the first Ophelia in Thomas's Hamlet (1868), the first
London and New York Mignons, London's first Margherita in Boito's Mefistofele,
and she was Marguerite in Faust in the first ever performance at the
Metropolitan Opera (1883). A
Benque
photograph.
Who knew that Madame Nilsson
had a temper?
"The fair Nilsson ... was a
lady of many virtues, which were offset by the possession of a singularly bad
temper. When doing chores in her native Scandinavia this temper was kept under
control, but once raised to the dignity of a prima donna, the fair
creature felt herself at liberty to kick over music stools and scowl at
orchestral leaders, and have tantrums whenever she felt like it." 28
March 1878.
(17)
Gioachino Rossini
(1792-1868). An abbreviated list
of his 39 operas includes: La pietra del paragone (1812),
L'occasione fa il ladro (1812), Il Signor Bruschino (1813),
Tancredi (1813), L'italiana in Algeri (1813), Aureliano in
Palmira (1813), Il turco in Italia (1814), Sigismondo (1814),
Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816), Otello (1816), Cenerentola
(1817), La gazza ladra (1817), Armida (1817), Mosè
in Egitto (1818), La donna del lago
(1819), Semiramide (1823), Le siège
de Corinthe (1820), and Guillaume
Tell (1829). Numa Blanc, Paris,
photographer.
(18)
Marietta Alboni [orig. Maria Anna Marzia] (6 Mar 1823 - 23 Jun 1894):
Italian contralto. Studied with Bertinotti. Worked personally with Rossini to
learn his contralto roles. Debut Bologna 1842 as Climene in Pacini's Saffo.
Leading contralto at London's CG, and was considered a rival to Jenny Lind.
Meyerbeer wrote Page's Aria (Les Huguenots) for her. She sang the
baritone role of Carlos in the first CG Ernani when
both Tamburini and Roncini turned it down. Married Count Pepoli. She
sang at Rossini's funeral along with Adelina Patti. This is a Mayer-Pierson
(Lèopold Ernest Mayer
and Pierre Louis Pierson) photograph.
(19) Belgian (French-speaking)
soprano, Blanche Arral [nee Clara Lardinois] was the youngest of 17
children. She began her career at the Opéra Comique in Paris, where Massenet
added a small part to Manon for her. Her personal life was quite interesting,
having reportedly befriended such legendary personalities as Harry Houdini,
Victor Hugo, Mata Hari, Sarah Bernhardt in addition to noted musicians. Photo,
von Bosch of Paris.
(20)
Ugalde, Delphine [nee Beaucé]:
French soprano (3 Dec 1829 - 19 Jul 1910): Trained with
Laure Cinti-Damoreau and Moreau-Sainti.
Operetta star, also managed the Bouffes-Parisiens. Ladrey of
Paris. Debut as Angele in Domino Noir (Auber) She was
an extremely popular performer at the Opera-Comique. She retired in 1870 to
teach. Among her pupils were her daughter Marguerite Ugalde, and Marie Sass.
An E. Ladrey photograph, Paris.
