(1) English soprano
Miriam Licette (1892-1969) as Desdemona (Othello) and the
Countess (The Marriage of Figaro). She was a pupil of Marchesi and de
Reszke. Licette made her debut (1911) in Rome (Madama Butterfly). She
sang with Beecham's troupe (1916-20) and with the British National Opera Co.
(1922-28) that evolved from it. She also sang many important roles with the
Royal Opera at Covent Garden (1919-29).
(2)
Soprano Maria Labia (1880-1953) as Carmen. She took the unconventional
route by beginning her career outside of her native Italy. At the Stockholm
Opera she made her debut (1904) as Mimi in La Bohème. At the Berlin Opera
in 1906 she performed the first German language Tosca.
Labia's career was temporarily
halted when she was accused of espionage for Germany in 1914. She was arrested
but was soon cleared of the charges. She returned to her career after the war.
She was the first European Giorgetta in Puccini's
Il Tabarro
(11 Jan 1919). Perhaps it was Labia's comments that got her in trouble during
the war; after all, it was she who told Puccini that there was "too much
screaming" in the final scene of his newly created opera, Sour Angelica.
(3)
Russian tenor Andrey Markovich Labinsky
(1871-1941) as Faust. Labinsky was a pupil of Stanislaus I. Gabel and V. M.
Samus in St.
Petersburg. He was a member of the Mariinsky Opera choir before he had his first
solo in 1897. At that same theater he sang the role of Vsevolod in the 1907 premiere
of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Invisible City of Kitezh. In 1912 he joined the
Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, where he remained a leading tenor until 1924. Upon his
retirement from singing he became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. He was regarded as
a good tenor but not in the same class as Sobinov or Smirnov.
(4) French soprano Marie Lafargue. She
made several appearances at the Paris Opéra between 1895 and 1900. Her debut
there was on 19 Apr 1895 as Desdemona in Otello. She performed the title
roles in Aida (1895) and Helle (1896); Elisabeth in Tannhäuser
(1895), Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (1896), and Valentine in Les
Huguenots (1899). At the Monte Carlo Opera in 1900 she appeared opposite
Tamagno in Otello. She was also seen there as Juliane in the world
premiere of Renaud d'Arles by Desjoyeaux. This postcard was published by
S.I.P., number 856/14. Postmarked from Paris and Amsterdam in 1904.
(5) Marie Lafargue.
(6) French tenor Léon Laffitte (Saint-Geniès:
1875 - Paris: 1938) as John of Leyden in Le Prophète. He made his debut
(1898) at the Paris Opéra as David in Die Meistersinger. He sang for
fifteen seasons at the Monnaie in Brussels where he was a great favorite.
In 1904, with piano accompaniment, Lafitte sang excerpts from Sylvio Lazzari's
opera-in-progress, Armor, for Prince Albert. The Prince, who was not at
all pleased at what he heard, promptly dismissed the opera. Laffitte was not a
top-tier tenor, showing, at times, unevenness in his singing. Nevertheless, he
enjoyed a successful international career. A Klary
photograph, circa 1907.
(7) French soprano Jeanne Laffitte performed in Monte Carlo
and French provincial houses. She was the wife of LéonLaffitte
and often performed together. One such instance was in Covent Garden
(1906) in the first performance there of Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame.
Jeanne sang Thysbé.]
(8)
Albert Lambert.
(9) Bruno Landi. Italian tenor.
[Metropolitan
Opera debut of Bruno Landi in Rigoletto] Bruno Landi, who played the
Duke, and --- new to the Metropolitan --- Carlo Tagliabue's portrayal of the
title role. Mr. Landi was received most encouragingly, and with the special
fervor of delighted Verdians. The new tenor sings pleasantly with a voice of
moderate power and acceptable quality. He resorts frequently to a somewhat
honeyed half-voice that makes it primary effect not by its unexpectedness.
Generally, however, his singing meets the standards of phrasing obtaining in
current performances of Italian opera. By the most severe Hollywood standards,
Mr. Landi is a handsome Duke. Being young, he has no difficulty appearing
young; but youth [that] is not all there is in the character. AS far as the
eye could tell, this Duke was quite a composed, serious and gentlemanly young
person. His ardor was politely contained, his levity held safely within the
bounds of respectability. Mr. Landi seems to be presuming wholly upon his
youthful appearance to supply a temperament which. to the eye much more than
to the ear, is not easily discoverable. When his movements and gestures match
the feeling in his voice, this may be a convincing Duke. New
York Times, 13 Jan 1938, G. G.
(10) French
soprano Lise Landouzy (1861-1943) studied in Lille. She made her debut
(1889) at the Opéra-Comique as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. She
appeared regularly in Paris, Nice, Brussels, and Monte Carlo. Her successes
included her portrayal of Anne Ford in the 1894 French premiere of Verdi's
Falstaff and Clorinde in the 1895 premiere of La Fille de Tabarin.
(11) Lise Landouzy.
(12) Lise Landouzy.
(13) A
rare postcard of French contralto
Ketty Lapeyrette (1884-1960) in an
unidentified role. 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
Henri Manuel.
(14) Jean
Lasalle (14 Dec 1847 - 7 Sep 1909): French baritone. Debut Liége (1868) as
St. Bris (Huguenots). French provinces, Belgium, Holland, Covent
Garden, Metropolitan Opera. He was the principal baritone at the Paris Opéra,
succeeding Faure. First London Alim (Le Roi de Lahore), and Demon in
Rubinstein's opera of the same name.
(15)
German tenor
Rudolf Laubenthal
(1886-1971) studied with Lilli Lehmann in Berlin. He made his debut (1913) at
the Berlin Deutsches Opera. He spent ten seasons at the Metropolitan Opera
where his critics called him everything from "strenuous and vocally
distressing," to "inimitable" in talent. Laubenthal's American premieres
included, among others, Shvanda (Babinsky), Die Aegyptische Helena
(Menelaos), and Jenufa (Steva).
(16)
Rudolf Laubenthal.
(17) French
soprano Georgette LeBlanc
(1860-1941). She was the mistress of the Belgian
poet Maurice Maeterlinck, who wrote the play Pelléas et Mélisande.
Maeterlinck tried to procure the world premiere role of Debussy's operatic
Mélisande for LeBlanc, but Mary Garden won the role, which she performed to
great success. According to Garden's autobiography, Debussy had LeBlanc sing
an act of Pelléas before a jury of musicians. The overwhelming results
of that audition strengthened Debussy's support for Garden. LeBlanc had a light voice of no special quality.
Fortunately, in 1903 LeBlanc recorded an excerpt of Massenet's Sapho,
which is preserved in the Historical Sound Recordings collection at Yale
University. Its historic value is not so much for LeBlanc's contribution, but
for the fact that it is a very rare recording of Massenet himself accompanying
the singer. Critic Edmond Stoullig caught her 1898 performance as Sapho at the
Opéra-Comique, calling it, "quite different from that of her predecessor [Calvé,
which] earned for her a personal success as actress, singer, and woman.
(18)
Georgette LeBlanc.
(19) Russian baritone Leonid Leonidov.
(20) Isabelle L'Huillier as Musetta in La Bohème.
She sang at the Metropolitan Opera during the 1908-09 season. This is a Aimé
Dupont photo postcard.
