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(1) Guerrina
Febbri: Italian coloratura contralto (1868 - 21 Feb 1946): Debut Viadana
(1884). Renowned for her coloratura singing in Cenerentola and
L'Italiana in Algeri. London Drury Lane, Metropolitan Opera, Genoa. NOTE:
She had a sister Vittorina who was a mezzo soprano. Vittorina had a much shorter
career (1889-1895) so I'm reasonably certain this is an image of Guerrina and
not Vittorina.
(2)
Adolf Fischer: Tenor: He made his Paris Opéra debut
as Tristan (18 Oct 1938).
(3) German soprano Katharina
Fleischer-Edel (1873-1928) made guest appearances at Bayreuth as Elisabeth
and Elsa in 1904, Brangane and Sieglinde in 1906, and Sieglinde and Elsa in
1908. She repeated her Elisabeth, Elsa, and Brünnhilde at the Metropolitan Opera
in 1906. She possessed a fine lyric voice but was not particularly noted for her
acting.
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(4) René-Antoine Fournets:
French bass (1858 - 1926): Studied at the Paris Conservatory and his first
engagement was with the Opéra-Comique. He made his Paris Opéra debut (1892) as
Méphisto in Faust. He sang the first Abimélech (Samson et Dalila),
Wotan and Doner (L'Or du Rhin), Prétextat (Frédégonde), Roger (Helle),
Méphistophélès (La Damnation de Faust), and Alain de Dinan (Lohengrin)
at the Paris Opéra.
(5) Nina Alexandrowna Friede
(St. Petersburg, Russia: 1859 - post 1940). Russian mezzo-soprano. Daughter of a
Russian General, she began piano studies at the Petersburg Conservatory when she
was 13 years old. There she also took up voice lessons, followed by lessons with
Mathilde Marchesi in Vienna and Paris. She made her debut (1882)
at the Teatro Niccolini in Florence in Linda di Chamounix. She then
traveled to Barcelona to perform at the Teatro Liceo. While in Spain she studied
voice but this time with Ronconi. She performed frequently in Russia, and
appeared in Monte Carlo, Warsaw, and Paris. She also gave many concert
performances.
(6) Italian soprano Maria
Farneti (Forli, Italy: 8 Dec 1877 - 17 Oct 1955). She made her debut in
1898. She was well known as an interpreter of verismo operas. She was
admired by Mascagni, who took her on his company tour of North America in 1902.
She was especially admired in South America and at La Scala. She sand the title
role in Isabeau at the world premiere in the Teatro Coliseo (1911). She
retired in 1911 after she married a lawyer. Seen here as Hérodiade.
(7)
San Francisco-born
Maude Fay (1878-1964)
was quite popular in Munich. On the recommendation of Johanna Gadski she went
to Dresden for study. Like many sopranos, she made her debut (1906) as
Marguerite in Faust (Munich Royal Opera). Her credentials included the
Munich premieres of Tosca (1908), Feuersnot, and Ariadne auf
Naxos. At the outbreak of World War I she remained in Germany doing Red
Cross work but returned to America in 1916 to make her Metropolitan Opera
debut as Sieglinde (Die Walküre). She also appeared in Chicago and San
Francisco. Seen here in Le Nozze
di Figaro.
(8)
Maude Fay as Sieglinde in
Die Walküre.
(9)
Swedish baritone
John Forsell
(1868-1941) in
Mona Lisa. He made his debut (1896) in Stockholm as
Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. During the 1909-1910 season he was
seen at the Metropolitan Opera. From 1923 through 1939 he held an
administrative position at the Stockholm Opera.
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