Camille Silvy
(b. 1834/5 Nogent-le-Rotrou, France, d. 1910 Saint-Maurice,
France)
Camille Silvy once credited his start in photography to the influence
of a drawing teacher he had as a child. Silvy had studied law and had become
a diplomat, but it was after a visit to Algeria that he became a
photographer. His early successes were evident in the landscape photographs
he took in the Paris countryside, where he grew up. One critic said of his
landscapes: “It is difficult to obtain a greater finesse in the details with
such grand and well combined effects of light.”
Silvy became a member of the Société Française de Photographie in 1858. By
1859, he had moved to London and opened a portrait studio producing
cartes-de-visite, the small, calling card-sized photographs invented by
André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri in 1854. Silvy also became a member of the
Photographic Society there. In 1868, when the popularity of the carte-de-visite
had waned, Silvy sold his London studio and returned to France. With his
health compromised by poisoning from photography chemicals, Silvy died at age
seventy-five.
(1) French
soprano, Emma Calvé(Decazeville, 15 Aug 1858;
Millau, 6 Jan 1942). She was a pupil of Jules
Puget, Mathilde Marchesi and Rosina Laborde. She made her début as Marguerite
in Faust at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, on 23 September 1881,
and three years later appeared in Paris, mainly at the Opéra-Comique. Massenet
wrote two roles for her, the heroines of La navarraise and of Sapho,
and she created the title role in Hahn’s La carmélite at the
Opéra-Comique in 1902. She performed often at Covent Garden and at the
Metropolitan Opera, and was well known for her (many) performances as
Carmen. A Cautin & Berger, Paris, photograph.
(2) Belgian tenor Eloi Sylva
(b. Grammont: 1843 - d. Berlin: 8 Sep 1919). He studied at the
Brussels Conservatory, and in Paris with tenor Duprez. He made his debut in
Nantes [some sources give his debut in Lyons in 1868]. After appearances in the
Hague and Lyons, he made his Paris Opéra debut (15 May 1872) in Robert le
Diable. He also appeared in Berlin, St. Petersburg, and the Metropolitan
Opera (debut in The Prophet, 27 Nov 1885). A Pierre Petit, Paris,
photograph.
Among the
passengers who stepped off the steamer City of Rome last evening was a pleasant
looking young gentleman somewhat below the middle size, with a fresh rosy face,
and a light colored beard, and dressed in a dark gray suit and derby hat.
This was the tenor, Eloi Sylva, who, during several years past, has achieved so
much success and won so many admirers at the Imperial Theatre, in St.
Petersburg, and who will appear for the first time in this country in the
Metropolitan Opera House....
[As to the reason why he left
St. Petersburg] "They have no
Italian opera there this season. The national party is dominant, and everything
is Russian there now --- even operatic singing. It is not on account of any race
or national prejudice, but they seem to be enthusiastic over the native tongue
just now, and one hears Russian and Russian everywhere." New York
Times, 19 Sep 1885.
(3)
Aïno Ackté:
French-trained Finnish soprano (1876-1944). After a series of hits and
misses that failed to establish her talents, she finally achieved stardom in the
title role of Strauss's Salome, which was for a time the definitive
interpretation. She is the sister of Irma Ackté Tervani. A Nadar photograph.
(4)
French
soprano Marguerite Ugalde
(1862-1940), nee Marie Varcollier. She was a popular figure in both opera and
operetta, concentrating the early part of her successful career in France. She
was seen at the Salle Favart as Marie in La Fille du Régiment (1880). She
created the role of Nicklausse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the
Opéra-Comique in 1881, as well as roles in Bois, and Les Cent Jours.
After leaving the Opéra-Comique she sang operetta both in France and in
foreign provinces.
A Nadar photograph.
(5) Contralto Anna de Belocca
[Bellokh]
(1854-?) in Fidelio. She appeared at the New York Academy of Music
(1976), Philadelphia Academy of Music, and other institutions with the Strakosch
Opera Company (1876) and Colonel Mapleson's New York Company (1884).
Mlle. de
Belocca was unusually attractive in person, with brown hair, large black eyes,
dead-white complexion, and symmetrical form. She was the daughter of M. de
Bellokh, a scholar of St. Petersburg and acting Imperial Councillor [sic]
of State. Mlle. de Belocca spoke five languages, and because of her aristocratic
birth was sought after by the highest circles of society. Famous
Singers of To-day and Yesterday by Henry Charles Lahee.
(6) Belgian soprano Fanny
Heldy [nee Marguerite Virginie Emma Clémentine Deceuninck] (Ath [some
sources say Liége]: 29 Feb 1888 - 13 Dec 1973). Attended the Liége
Conservatoire and then performed as a guest artist in Ghent before making her
Monnaie (26 Nov 1910) debut as a substitute in Ivan le Terrible.
Between 1914 and 1925 she sang a number of memorable roles at the Monte-Carlo
opera. Her first Paris appearance was at the Opéra-Comique (1917) as Violetta
(Traviata). In 1923 Fanny Heldy made the historic first recording of
the opera Manon for Pathé Records. She is buried in the Cimetière de
Montmartre. She is seen here in the French version on Leoncavallo's
Pagliacci, Pallaise. Sabourin, Paris, photograph.
(7)
French contralto
Ketty Lapeyrette (1884-1960). Along with
Albers, LaSalle, and Malvini she made one of the first complete opera
recordings (La Favorita). These very rare records, five centimeters in
diameter, played outward from the center! Photograph by
Cheri-Rousseau & Glauth, Paris.
(8) Cécile Thévenet:
Mezzo-soprano. Opéra-Comique, Monte Carlo Opera, Théâtre Royal Français
d'Anvers. A Paul Boyer, Paris, photograph.
(9)
Bass-baritone
Jean-FrançoisDelmas (1861-1933) made his debut (1886) as Saint-Bris
in Les Huguenots at the Paris Opéra, and remained a member of that
Company for his entire career—a remarkable 41 years. This imposing singer sang
more than 40 new roles for the Opéra. A quick study, Delmas appeared in four
new compositions, Astarté, Le Roi de Paris, Les Barbares, and
Siegfried in 1901 alone! Delmas, seen here in Thais. A Benque,
Paris.
(10) Marietta Piccolomini
(15 Mar 1834 - 23 Dec 1899): Italian soprano. Of noble birth, her parents were
horrified that she wanted a career in opera. However, they relented. Her debut
was in Rome (1852) in the operas of Poliuto and Don Bucefalo. From
there she went to Florence (1852) to sing Lucrezia Borgia, which is
commonly and erroneously given as her debut. Scarcely eighteen, the audience
snickered at such a child performing this role. She was the first Violetta in
the English premiere of Traviata, and the first London interpreter of
Luisa Miller. Her Violetta was quite popular throughout Italy and especially in
her home town of Sienna. There is a report that she actually sang thirty-five
successive nightly performances of Violetta. Crowds used to surround her
carriages and hotels. She often gave the proceeds from her performances to the
poor, and gave complimentary performances in London as well. She retired in 1860
when she married the Marchese Gaetani della Fargia, although she did sing a
benefit concert in 1861 for the sufferers of an earthquake in central Italy.
Physically, she was described as follows: "She was agreeable, sprightly, petite,
with a vivacious grace of manner perfectly bewitching. Her figure is slender and
extremely elegant; her features are bright, and capable of expressing the rapid
transitions of varying emotion. . . . ." Her voice was "a high soprano, fresh
and youthful, but in range perhaps a little more than two octaves, crisp and
flexible, pretty fluent, and rather sweet than powerful." A Camille Silvy
photograph.
When Piccolomini was in Florence singing Lucretia she
was very successful up to the great duo of the second act, where, threatening
Alfronzo, she exclaimed, “Remember, you are my fourth husband.” A wag in the
gallery, struck with the incongruity between her childish appearance and the
mighty words, called out, “How old were you when you married the first?”
Piccolomini and the audience together burst into hearty laughter.
Brooklyn Eagle 8 Dec 1858
(11) [Marie] Gabrielle
Krauss. Austrian soprano (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. A Pierre Petit photo.
(12)
Galli-Marié.
Photographer: Nadar, Paris.
(13) Christine Nilsson.
Photographer: Le Jeune, Paris.
(14) French composer
Fromental Halévy (27 May 1799 - 17 Mar 1862). He wrote over forty operas
but only one, La Juive, received lasting success. It premiered in 1835
with Enrico Caruso in the role of Eléazar. A Pierre Petit photo.
(15) Rosine Bloch.
French mezzo-soprano (1832-1891). Studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. She
made her debut (13 Nov 1865) at the Paris Opera as Azucena (Trovatore).
She sang in the premieres of Duprato's La Fiancée de Corinthe, and
Diaz's La Coupe du Roi de Thulé. A Pierre Petit photo.
(16) Morelli, Bortolo.
Baritone. Paris Opera 1851-1860s. Betly (a rather obscure opera by
Donizetti) as Franz, and Miller in Verdi's Luisa Miller. A Pierre Petit
photo.
(17) Gustave-Hippolyte Roger
(Chapelle-Saint-Denis: 17 Dec 1815 - Paris: 13 Sep 1879). Joined the Opéra-Comique
(1838) and remained there until his debut at the Paris Opéra in 1848. While
hunting in Germany his gun accidentally discharged and hit him in the arm,
which resulted in amputation. In the photograph, his artificial right arm is
evident. After his accident he could no longer sustain a career in the big
houses. He created several roles for the Opéra, with Jean de Leyde (Le
Prophete) the most recognizable. A Montmartre photo.
(18) Fortunata Tedesco
(Mantua, Italy: 14 Dec 1826 - after 1866). Soprano. Was Venus in the
revised version of Tannhäuser performed on 13 March 1861 at L'Opéra
Paris.
(19) 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. Benque, Paris, image.
(20) Zina Brozia: Soprano
(1880-?) seen here in the title role of Thais. She made her Palais Garnier debut
as Gila in Rigoletto (27 Mar 1908). Her operatic debut was at the
Opéra-Comique (13 Sep 1905) as Violetta in Traviata. Sang also in Monte
Carlo (1906), Parme (1908), Boston (1911). In 1914 she joined the Théâtre de
Gaité à Paris. She continued to sing in Paris until 1950. A
Cheri-Rousseau & Glauth photo, Paris.
