(1) Minnie
Nast (1874-1956): German soprano as Cio-Cio-San. She made her debut in
Aachen (1897). Then to the Dresdeon Royal Opera where she remained until the
end of her career in 1919. She created the role of Sophie in the world
premiere (1911) of Der Rosenkavalier. After she retired she lived and
taught in Dresden. She was forced to leave that city in 1945 when her home
was destroyed during an air raid.
(2)Austrian
tenor Franz Navál
(1865-1939) as Roméo. Originally Franz Pogacnik, he studied with A. Nedred
and Joseph Gänsbacher. He made his debut (1888) in Frankfurt as Lionel in
Martha. He stayed for several years in Frankfurt before being engaged at
the Imperial Opera in Berlin (1895-98). There he was frequently paired with
Geraldine Farrar. He sailed to the U.S. in 1904 where he appeared for one
season at the Metropolitan Opera. He appeared in the major tenor roles in
Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana, La Dame Blanche, L'Elisir d'Amore, Faust, La
Traviata, and Roméo et Juliette. He retired in Vienna where he
taught singing.
(3) Francesco
Navarini (1855 - 23 Feb 1923): Italian bass. Debut (1878) in Treviso in
Lucrezia Borgia. Guest appearances in Moscow, Odessa, Barcelona,
Buenos Aires, London, Seville, Venice, Trieste, Florence, Malta, Turin,
Teatro São Carlos, La Scala, Teatro Costanzi. Sang Ludovico in the world
premiere of Otello. He had a beautiful bass voice.
(4) Emmy
Neiendorff as Waltraute.
(5)Soprano
Mignon [Mathilde Marie] Nevada (14 Aug 1888 [or 86] [Paris] - 25 Jun
1971), daughter of American soprano, Emma Nevada. Her godparents were the
composer Ambroise Thomas, and teacher, Mathilde Marchesi. Trained by her
mother, she made her debut (1907) at the Teatro Costanzi as Rosina in Il
Barbiere di Siviglia. She sang throughout Italy (including La Scala),
Portugal (Lisbon: San Carlos), Brussels, and Covent Garden (debut: 3 Oct
1910: Ophelia). One private recording is known to exist of her voice, where
she is introduced by her mother and sings a Thomas song.
(6)
Maria Nezadal (21 Feb 1897 - ?) as Elsa
in Lohengrin. Debut (1924) in Olomouc. Appeared at Vienna Volksoper,
Bern, Munich State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, Amsterdam,
Basel, Prague, Brno, Bratislava, Bayreuth Festivals. After 1933 she was
rarely able, for political reasons, to appear in Germany. She was married
(1935?) to conductor/composer Clemens Franckenstein (1897 - 1942).
(7)
Antonina Nezhdanova
studied with Sophia Rubinstein and with Masetti at the Moscow Conservatory.
She made her debut (1902) in Moscow as Antonida in Glinka's A Life for
the Tsar. She had a brilliant thirty-year career at the Bolshoi Theatre.
Her first-rate coloratura singing was clean and precise, with brilliant
trills. She seldom traveled outside of Russia but in 1912 she appeared with
Caruso and Ruffo at the Paris Opéra in Rigoletto. After 1936 she
taught singing in Moscow and later accepted a professorship at the
conservatory there.
(8)
Antonina Nezhdanova.
Seen here in Eugene Onegin.
(9)
Tennessee-born
soprano Alice Nielsen (1876-1943) had success in both grand opera and
operetta. She began in operetta, singing with the Tivoli Opera Company in
San Francisco, and with the Bostonians. Her grand opera debut (1903) took
place at the Bellini Theatre in Naples as Marguerite in Faust. She
also appeared at the Teatro San Carlo in that same city. At Covent Garden in
London she was seen opposite Caruso and Scotti in La Bohème (Mimi).
Once back in American she toured with Russell's San Carlo Company. She
arrived in New York in 1909 and made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimi.
Her one appearance as Rosina (Barbiere
di Siviglia) was as Frieda Hempel's
replacement in 1915. Seen here in My Favorite.
(10)
Mezzo-soprano Vera Nimidoff.
She made her Paris Opéra debut (10 Mar 1900) in the role of Stefano in
Roméo et Juliette. There she also sang Siebel (Faust), Waltraute
(Die Walküre), and was the first Paris Cleanthis in Astarté.
The color tinting has helped highlight aspects of this Reutlinger photograph
that otherwise would have been washed out by the lack of contrast. Publisher
S.I.P., number 190/6. Circa 1900.
(11) German baritone Hans Hermann Nissen
(1893-1980) as Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde. He was a member of
the Bavarian State Opera in Munich for more than thirty-five years. He
appeared at the Chicago Opera (1930-32) and the Metropolitan Opera
(1938-39).Seen here as Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde.
(12)
Bass Juste Nivette (1865-?)
made his debut at the Opéra-Comique as Sarastro in La Flute enchantée.
After a short engagement he moved to the Paris Opéra, where he sang a
variety of roles. At the Monte Carlo Opera in 1902 he sang in the world
premiere of Massenet's Le Jongleur de Notre Dame as Un Moine Peintre.
He was quite popular in Monte Carlo, singing roles such as Frère Laurent in
Roméo et Juliette, Alvise in La Gioconda, Barone in La
Traviata, Cardinal Campeggio in Henry VIII, and Le Roi Henri in
Lohengrin, as seen here in this Paul Boyer photograph. Nivette then
made brief appearances at La Scala and Covent Garden. In 1909 he made his
Boston Opera Company debut as Alvise in La Gioconda. There he was
also seen in Lakmé, Rigoletto, Faust and Les Huguenots.
Postcard was published by F.C. et Cie, number 170.
(13) Lillian Nordica:
American soprano (12 May 1857 - 10 May 1914): St. Petersburg, London CG,
Met, Milan, Manhattan Opera, Boston. Married Frederick A. Gower who was
killed in a balloon accident. Married and separated from Hungarian tenor
Zoltan Dome. Married for a third time to London banker George H. Young.
During her 1913 farewell tour around the word and was shipwrecked off New
Guinea. She was rescued, brought to a hospital in Batavia, Java and died
there.
(14) Belgian
mezzo-soprano Dora Nordier as Charlotte in Werther. From
1916-1926 she sang at Liege, Antwerp (1921-24), and Ostend. She performed in
North Africa in Oran, Algiers, and Casablanca. During the season 1926-27 she
sang at the Monnaie. After her retirement in 1928 she became a noted
professor of music for many years.
(15) Jean Noté (6 May 1859 - 11 Mar
1922): Belgian baritone. He had a brilliant career at the Paris Opéra for over
thirty years and was the most famous baritone of his generation on the French
operatic stage. He was Amarat in the world premiere (14 Mar 1921) of Antar;
Scopas in the world premiere (21 May 1902) of Orsola; Gaspard in the
world premiere (19 Feb 1897) of Messidor; Hermann in the world premiere
(8 Jun 1898) of La Cloche du Rhin; Hagen in the world premiere (23 Dec
1898) of La Burgonde; and Longnac in the world premiere (26 Apr 1901)
of Le Roi de Paris.
(16)
Swedish tenor
Arvid Ödmann
(1850-1914) in the title role of Faust. He made his debut (1873) as
Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in Stockholm. In 1875 he had the opportunity
to study with Massenet in Paris, which greatly enhanced his skills in the
French repertory. In 1887 he was engaged for the Copenhagen Opera but soon
returned to the Royal Opera House in Stockholm where he remained to the end of
his career (1911). This is a Gösta Florman image, circa 1910.
(17) Elisabeth
Ohms as Isolde. ( Arnhem: 17 May
1888 - Marquartstein, Bavaria: 16 Oct 1974).Dutchsoprano. After study
in Amsterdam and Frankfurt, she made her début at Mainz in 1921, and in 1923
joined the Munich Opera, where she spent the greater part of her career; she
was appointed Kammersängerin, and married the Munich stage designer Leo
Pasetti. Her many notable performances included Brünnhilde and Isolde. She
made guest appearances in Milan, Bayreuth, Covent Garden and other cities.
(18) Piotr Olenin: Producer, baritone,
and conductor.
(19)
Contralto
Sigrid Onegin
(1889-1943) was born Elisabeth Elfriede Sigrid Hoffmann in Stockholm. She
studied in Munich, Milan, Frankfurt, and with her first husband, Russian
composer and pianist Eugen B. Onegin. She made her debut (1911) as a concert
singer under the name Lilly Hoffmann. Her stage debut (1912) came as Carmen
(seen here) in Stuttgart. This celebrated singer appeared all over the world,
including London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Salzburg, and Bayreuth. She
made only five appearances during her two seasons (1922-24) at the
Metropolitan Opera. She created the role of Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos at
Stuttgart (25 Oct 1912).
(20)
German soprano Eva von der Osten (19 Aug
1881 - 1936) as Elisabeth. She made her debut (1902) in Dresden, where she
spent the majority of her entire career. She was beloved at the Dresden Royal
Opera where she created the role of Octavian in the world premiere (1911) of
Der Rosenkavalier. She also appeared in the world premiere (1916) of
Hollische Gold. She was the first Kundry in the English premiere (1914) of
Parsifal in Covent Garden. She was married to baritone Friedrich
Plaschke. She later was the manager at the Dresden State Opera, and managed
the production of the world premiere (1933) of Arabella there.
