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(1) French soprano Marguerite Ugalde
(1862-?), 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. Ugalde's popularity was evident by the
advertisement for Ugalde perfume and toiletries found on the back of this
postcard. Ugalde is seen here in an operetta role. Postmarked in 1904.
(2) Mara Ulrich
as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel.
(3) Tenor Peter
Unkel as Lohengrin. Photograph by Gerlach, published by Herm. Leiser,
Berlin, number 7020. Circa 1916.
(4) Dutch Heldentenor Jacques Urlus (Hergenrath:
9 Jan 1867-1935) as Siegfried. Urlus was singing in church choirs and music
halls before his wife encouraged him to seriously study singing. He made his
stage debut
(1894) in Amsterdam as Beppe in Pagliacci. He spent the majority of
his career in Leipzig (1900-17), but he did appear at the Metropolitan Opera
(1913-17), Covent Garden, Vienna, Brussels, Paris, Stockholm, Boston, Berlin, and Bayreuth.
(5) A.M.
Uspensky in Lakmé. Moscow.
(6) A striking image by the
photographic pioneer Nadar features the French tenor
Albert Vaguet
(1865-1943). He trained at the Paris Conservatory, and in 1890 made his
Paris Opéra debut in the title role of Faust. He remained with that
Company throughout his career. His commitments to the Paris Opéra prevented
him from premiering the role of Jean in Massenet's Le Jongleur de Notre
Dame. In 1899 he was the first French David in Les Maîtres Chanteurs
(Meistersinger). He created the roles of Hylas in Briséis (1899)
and Marcomir in Les Barbares (1901). An accident ended his stage
career at the age of thirty-eight but he continued to teach in Pau. He was
married to soprano Alba Chrétien who also appeared at the Paris Opéra.
(7) French soprano Aline
Vallandri (1878-1952) made her debut (1904) at the Opéra-Comique in the
title role of Mireille. She remained there for thirty years, creating
many roles for the Comique. A Reutlinger photo-postcard published by S.I.P.,
number 061. Postmarked in 1905.
(8) Bass Jean Vallier.
He made his debut (1892) at the Paris Opéra in Reyer's Sigurd. At the
Monte Carlo Opera, where he had his greatest successes, he appeared in
Salome (1903), Das Rheingold (1908, '09), Die Walküre,
Götterdämmerung, Cristoforo Colombo, Rigoletto, La Gioconda (1909),
Faust, Roméo et Juliette, and Lohengrin (1910).
(9) A youthful look at the
great French soprano Ninon Vallin (1886-1961). She studied in Lyon
and took additional instruction from Meyriane Héglon-Leroux in Paris. Her
official debut (1912) is recorded as Micaëla (Carmen) at the
Opéra-Comique although she did appear earlier that year in a Théâtre du
Chatelet production of Debussy's Le Martyre de Saint-Sébastien as a
leading choir voice. A world traveler, she first appeared at the Teatro
Colón in 1916 as Marguerite (Faust) and returned there periodically
until the middle 1930s. She was in the French premiere of Maria Egiziaca
(1934), and world premieres of Sorcière and Cadeaux de Noël.
She was also well known for her interpretations of songs by Debussy. This
postcard dates from her 1916 appearance at La Scala where she was seen in
Susanna, Mignon, and Marouf.
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(10) Soprano Andrée
Vally as Juliette. She was first seen at the Paris Opéra in 1913 when
she portrayed Maliella in the first performance there of Wolf-Ferrari's I
gioielli della Madonna. She was also seen as Thaïs, Juliette, a
Flower Maiden in Parsifal, Zina in le vieil Aigle and
Alix in Le Miracle. Photograph by A. Bert in Paris, circa 1913.
(11) Belgian soprano Angèle Van Loo (5 Jan 1881 - 5
May 1960). She was a student of Julian Milcamps and sang for one season at
the Monnaie (1899-1900). After that season she sang mostly operetta, and
took her sprightly singing all over the world, including South America,
North Africa, Egypt, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. During World War I
she assumed the direction of the Théâtres Galeris in Brussels.
(12) Tennessee-born soprano
Marcia van Dresser (1880-1937) as Aida. She had success as an operetta
singer and an actress before taking up grand opera. In Germany she trained
under Hermine Bosetti and subsequently appeared in many German opera houses
before the outbreak of World War I. Back in America her most successful
appearances were at the Chicago Opera in 1915. This postcard was taken
during her appearances in Dessau, Germany.
(13) Belgian tenor Ernest
van Dyck (2 Apr 1861- 31 Aug 1923). For a short time he studied law and worked as a
journalist before beginning singing lessons with, among others, the
composers Chabrier and Massenet, an association that led to his creation of
Massenet's Werther in 1892. He made his debut (1884) in Antwerp. His first appearance in Bayreuth was in 1888 as
Parsifal. He appeared at the Metropolitan Opera during the 1898-1902
seasons. Although he did not have the most beautiful voice, his
intelligence and the ability to learn roles on short notice were a godsend
to opera house managements.
(14)
Ernest van Dyck.
(15) Dutch baritone Anton van Rooy (1870-1932). He made
his debut as Wotan at the 1897 Bayreuth Festival at the insistence of Cosima
Wagner. His commanding appearance and his beautiful upper register created an
immediate impression. In 1898 he joined the Metropolitan Opera, where he sang
his Wotan fifty times during his nine seasons there.
(16) French soprano Raymonde
Vécart studied at the Conservatoire de Lille and made her debut at the
Opéra-Comique. She made her Paris Opéra debut (1917) as Gilda in Rigoletto.
For that House she created the role of Ernestine in Monsieur Choufleuri.
Photo by Benjamin.
(17) Belgian
coloratura soprano Alice Verlet [Verheyden] (1873-1934) as Blondine in
L'Enlèvement au Sérail, the role in which she made her Paris Opéra debut
in 1903. Her first appearances were at the
Opéra-Comique, although the dates
of her debut there vary. Her great virtuosity brought her success in the roles of Philine,
Rosina, Violetta, and Lakmé. She also appeared at La Monnaie, the Théâtre
Gaité-Lyrique,
His Majesty's Theatre, London, and at various locations in Europe while on
tour. In 1915 at the Chicago Opera she was seen as Philine in several performances of Mignon, which featured Conchita
Supervia, Charles Dalmorès, and Marcel Journet in the cast.
(18) Viaud as Tannhäuser.
(19) V.J. Victorov as Ramades. The inscription reads,
"To my dear with the beautiful eyes."
(20) Spanish
tenor Francisco Viñas
(later, Vigñas) as Tristan. He made his debut (1888) at the Teatro Liceo as
Lohengrin. He was the Turiddu in the first performance of Cavalleria
Rusticana in Eng-land (1893). He repeated that role for his Metropolitan
Opera debut that same year opposite Emma Calvé who was also making her
Metropolitan debut in the role of Santuzza. He remained on the roster until
1897. He had a powerful heroic tenor voice and was thought to be the successor
to the superb Spanish tenor Julián Gayarre.
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