(1) Lillian Nordica: American soprano (Farmington, ME: 12 May 1857 - Batavia, Java: 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 (1909) 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.

(2) Lillian Nordica as Isolde.

(3) Lillian Nordica as Isolde.

(4) Marcella Sembrich.

(5) Albert Alvarez: French tenor (1861-1933). His early musical training included a position as a bandmaster in France. He studied with Martini and made his debut (1887) in Ghent as Faust, a role he reprised for his Paris Opéra debut in 1892. He created more than ten roles for that house including Mirka in Augusta Holmes's La Montagne Noire in 1895, Walther (Les Maitres Chantiers de Nuremberg) in 1897, Manrique (le Trouvére), and Tristan (Tristan et Isolde) in 1904, and Nicias in the world premiere of Thaïs (1894).

(6) American baritone David Scull Bispham (Philadelphia: 5 Jan 1857 – NY: 2 Oct 1921). He studied in Florence with Vannuccini and in Milan with Lamperti. He made his operatic debut in London in 1891 (1890?) and was the leading Wagnerian baritone of the Metropolitan Opera Company from 1896 to 1903. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera (1896) as Beckmesser in Meistersinger. He was an early supporter of translating and performing foreign opera in the English language.

Biography: A Quaker Singer's Recollections, by David Bispham. New York, The Macmillan Co., 1920.

(7) David Bispham as Wolfram in Tannhäuser.

(8) Camille Seygard. Soprano who performed secondary roles. She can be heard on Mapleson cylinders made in the Metropolitan Opera on 3 Feb 1903 as Helmwige in a performance of Die Walküre. She is listed in the cast but apparently did not warrant an entry in the "Annals of the Metropolitan Opera." She also appeared at the Orpheus Club in Springfield in 1896. Also known as Camille Fischer-Seygard.

(9) Johanna Gadski as Pamina.

(10) Marcella Sembrich: Polish soprano (15 Feb 1858 - 11 Jan 1935): Debut (1877) as Elvira (I Puritani) in Athens. Dresden Royal Opera, Met, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Vienna, Stockholm, Brussels. Equally adept with the piano and violin and often accompanied herself. One of the most famous coloratura sopranos in operatic history. Seen here in The Daughter of the Regiment.

To see Marcella Sembrich and her jewels the average country woman will ride miles over a railroad … and sit in a crowded and insufferably hot hall without her dinner. When she has seen Sembrich and taken in the details of her gown and her diamonds she is ready to hear the prima donna sing. And she does not wish to hear her sing Mozart, though she can sing that as no other living singer can. What the country woman desires is to be astounded by the agility of her execution and by the peal of some wonderful high note. And, no matter how Sembrich sings, the country woman will probably be disappointed because she will not be able to tell the difference between this art and that of some such singer as Ellen Beach Yaw. But she can say that she has seen the famous Polish prima donna who gets any number of thousands of dollars a night at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. And that is something to live for. W.J. Henderson. New York Times, 17 Sep 1899.

(11) German tenor Ernst Kraus (1863-1941) as Siegfried. Early in his career Kraus toured the United States with the Damrosch Opera Company. He appeared at the Metropolitan Opera during the 1903-04 season, and at Covent Garden. This handsome tenor was the leading tenor for twenty-seven years at the Berlin Opera where this work first appeared. He made his debut (1893) in Mannheim as Tamino in Zauberflöte.

(12) Geraldine Farrar: American soprano (28 Feb 1882 - 11 Mar 1967): Debut Berlin (Hofoper) 1901 as Marguerite. Created Amica (Mascagni), Goosegirl in Königskinder, Madame Sans-Gêne, Suor Angelica. Huge Metropolitan Opera career. "Jerry-flappers." Uncommon Dupont.

(13) Geraldine Farrar as Cio-Cio San.

(14) Geraldine Farrar.

(15) Zélie De Lussan: American mezzo-soprano (1861 - 1949): Debut (1884) Boston. Covent Garden (1895-1902). First performance of Falstaff at the Met. Married pianist Angelo Fronani. Records rare: Victor, Beka.

(16) Lillian Nordica. 1891 English census of 30 Fitzjohns Avenue in London. Nordica was a widow at that time. With her then was George A. Walker, a married American visitor, and a "manager of mechanical engineering." With him was, perhaps, his daughter, Gracie Walker. Also with Nordica was a butler, a housemaid, and a cook.

Tracing Ms. Nordica's travels via genealogy sources reveals some humorous results regarding her age. On one passport application she solemnly swore she was born on 12 December 1862. In fact, her birth year can be found in the range of 1857 to 1868. The older she got, the younger she got on paper. 12 May 1857 is the birth date given in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.

(17) Alois Burgstaller: German tenor (1871-1945. He trained at the Bayreuth School under Julius Kniese and made his stage debut (1894) at the Bayreuth Festival in a small role. He was particularly noted for his portrayal of Siegfried. Burgstaller sang the first Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera (1903), which drew considerable wrath from Cosima Wagner, who was trying to gain exclusive protection for the work. As a result, Burgstaller, as well as Anton van Rooy and conductor Alfred Hertz, were banned from any further performances at Bayreuth.

(18) American tenor Barron Berthold [also seen as, Berthald]. Castle Square Company. The Metropolitan English Grand Opera Company. Boston Opera. Damrosch Opera Company. Abroad in Wagnerian roles.

(19) 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.

(20) Lilli Lehmann (24 Nov 1848 - 17 May 1929): German soprano. Both of her parents (August Lehmann and Marie Loewe) were singers. Debut Prague 1865, 1st Boy in Zauberflöte. In first Bayreuth Ring Cycle singing Woglinde, Helmwige, and Woodbird. One of the Rhinemaidens in the first London Ring. American debut (Metropolitan Opera, 1885) as Carmen. First American Isolde and Götterdämmerung Brünnhilde. After retiring from the stage she taught. Her pupils included Geraldine Farrar and Olive Fremstad. Married tenor Paul Kalisch. Sister of soprano Marie Lehmann. Seen here as Isolde.

(21) Edouard De Reszke [orig. Edward Mieczyslaw]: Polish bass (22 Dec 1853 - 25 May 1917): Debut Paris premiere of Aida (1876: Verdi conducting); Created Ruben (Il figliuol prodigo), Gilberto (Maria Tudor), the King (Elda). Returned to Poland and was there during war. Lived in poverty in a cellar and then a cave.

(22) Belgian mezzo-soprano Jeanne Maubourg (1875 [possibly 1873] - 12 May 1953). She made her stage debut (1895) at the Théâtre des Galeries in Brussels in the opera Ali Baba. She joined the Monnaie in 1897 where she appeared in Manon, Les Charmeurs, La Fille du régiment, La Domino Noir, Les Deux Billets, Les Dragons de Villars, Lakmé, Mireille, Faust, La Bohème, Roméo et Juliette, Guillaume Tell and the French version of Die Meistersinger (Maîtres Chanteurs), and the first Monnaie Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel in 1898. She remained at the Monnaie until 1907. In 1909 she came to the Metropolitan Opera and found a home for five seasons in spite of being limited to minor roles in over 200 performances. Sang in the American premiere (1912) of Le Donne Curiose under Toscanini. Chicago Opera (1915, 1916).

(23) Albert Alvarez: French tenor (1861-1933). His early musical training included a position as a bandmaster in France. He studied with Martini and made his debut (1887) in Ghent as Faust, a role he reprised for his Paris Opéra debut in 1892. He created more than ten roles for that house including Mirka in Augusta Holmes's La Montagne Noire in 1895, Walther (Les Maitres Chantiers de Nuremberg) in 1897, Manrique (le Trouvére), and Tristan (Tristan et Isolde) in 1904, and Nicias in the world premiere of Thaïs (1894).

(24) Brooklyn born soprano Susan Strong (3 August 1870 - London: 11 March 1946). In November of 1889, New York State senator, Demas Strong, was struck by paralysis, one assumes from a stroke. After his death in November of 1893, his will stipulated that his six sons receive $2,500 each, while the balance of his estate, estimated between $150,000 and $300,000 was to be split among his daughters, including the youngest, Susan Strong. The sons, in an effort to obtain more from the estate, contested the will, and the recently discovered will of their mother, claiming that their parents were mentally unfit. To complicate the matters, it was discovered that all of the children, except for one, agreed to share and share alike the estate. A year later the various judgments were made and the estate wound up being shared equally, with the exception of Susan, who received an additional voluntary contribution from each share. The one daughter who did not enter into the agreement did not receive any part of the estate.

They are having Wagner’s operas in English at Covent Garden, London, and among the sopranos is Susan Strong, daughter of the late Demas Strong of Brooklyn. Here is what the musical Courier’s correspondent writes about her: “Another American soprano of whom America has good reason to be proud is Miss Susan Strong. My readers will be interested to learn that Miss Strong is a native of Brooklyn, and was educated musically by Francis Korbay, the Hungarian composer, who last November took up his residence in London, where she followed to continue her studies. This was Miss Strong’s first appearance before any public, as she had never sung previously in either concert or opera, and her success as Sieglinda was, considering this, most extraordinary. She has a very pleasing dramatic soprano voice, and her histrionic ability is exceptional.” In my humble opinion, this artist has every quality, and her performance is a complete one. She has warmth, passion, abandon, delicacy, power, sentiment and colossal virtuosity. That she occasionally misses a note does not count for anything. Brooklyn Eagle; 3 Nov 1895

(25) Pol Plançon: French bass (12 Jun 1854 - 11 Aug 1914): Debut at Lyons (1877) as St. Bris in Les Huguenots. World premiere of Le Cid. La Scala, Met, London CG, Brussels, Nice, Paris Opéra.