(1) Julia Hisson

(2) Leontine de Maesen

(3) Belgian soprano Fanny Heldy [nee Marguerite Virginie Emma Clémentine Deceuninck] (Ath [some sources say Liége]: 29 Feb 1888 - 13 Dec 1973). Attended the Liége Conservatoire and then performed as a guest artist in Ghent before making her Monnaie (26 Nov 1910) debut as a substitute in Ivan le Terrible. Between 1914 and 1925 she sang a number of memorable roles at the Monte-Carlo opera. Her first Paris appearance was at the Opéra-Comique (1917) as Violetta (Traviata). In 1923 Fanny Heldy made the historic first recording of the opera Manon for Pathé Records. She is buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre. She is seen here in the French version on Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Pallaise. Sabourin, Paris, photograph.

(4) French contralto Ketty Lapeyrette (1884-1960). 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 Cheri-Rousseau & Glauth, Paris.

(5) Cécile Thévenet: Mezzo-soprano. Opéra-Comique, Monte Carlo Opera, Théâtre Royal Français d'Anvers. A Paul Boyer, Paris, photograph.

(6) Bass-baritone Jean-François Delmas (1861-1933) made his debut (1886) as Saint-Bris in Les Huguenots at the Paris Opéra, and remained a member of that Company for his entire career—a remarkable 41 years. This imposing singer sang more than 40 new roles for the Opéra. A quick study, Delmas appeared in four new compositions, Astarté, Le Roi de Paris, Les Barbares, and Siegfried in 1901 alone! Delmas, seen here in Thais. A Benque, Paris.

(7) Marietta Piccolomini (15 Mar 1834 - 23 Dec 1899): Italian soprano. Of noble birth, her parents were horrified that she wanted a career in opera. However, they relented. Her debut was in Rome (1852) in the operas Poliuto and Don Bucefalo. From there she went to Florence (1852) to sing Lucrezia Borgia, which is commonly and erroneously given as her debut. Scarcely eighteen, the audience snickered at such a child performing this role. She was the first Violetta in the English premiere of Traviata, and the first London interpreter of Luisa Miller. Her Violetta was quite popular throughout Italy and especially in her home town of Sienna. There is a report that she actually sang thirty-five successive nightly performances of Violetta. Crowds used to surround her carriages and hotels. She often gave the proceeds from her performances to the poor, and gave complimentary performances in London as well. She retired in 1860 when she married the Marchese Gaetani della Fargia, although she did sing a benefit concert in 1861 for the sufferers of an earthquake in central Italy. Physically, she was described as follows: "She was agreeable, sprightly, petite, with a vivacious grace of manner perfectly bewitching. Her figure is slender and extremely elegant; her features are bright, and capable of expressing the rapid transitions of varying emotion. . . . ." [Her voice was] "a high soprano, fresh and youthful, but in range perhaps a little more than two octaves, crisp and flexible, pretty fluent, and rather sweet than powerful." A Camille Silvy photograph.

When Piccolomini was in Florence singing Lucretia she was very successful up to the great duo of the second act, where, threatening Alfronzo, she exclaimed, “Remember, you are my fourth husband.” A wag in the gallery, struck with the incongruity between her childish appearance and the mighty words, called out, “How old were you when you married the first?” Piccolomini and the audience together burst into hearty laughter. Brooklyn Eagle 8 Dec 1858

(8) [Marie] Gabrielle Krauss. Austrian soprano (Vienna: 24 Mar 1842 - Paris: 6 Jan 1906). She studied at the Vienna Conservatory with Marchesi. She made her debut in Berlin (1859) as Mathilde in William Tell. A Pierre Petit photo.

(9) Galli-Marié. Photographer: Nadar, Paris.

(10) Christine Nilsson. Photographer: Le Jeune, Paris.

(11) French composer Fromental Halévy (27 May 1799 - 17 Mar 1862). He wrote over forty operas but only one, La Juive, received lasting success. It premiered in 1835 with Enrico Caruso in the role of Eléazar. A Pierre Petit photo.

(12) Rosine Bloch. French mezzo-soprano (1832-1891). Studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. She made her debut (13 Nov 1865) at the Paris Opera as Azucena (Trovatore). She sang in the premieres of Duprato's La Fiancée de Corinthe, and Diaz's La Coupe du Roi de Thulé. A Pierre Petit photo.

(13) Bortolo Morelli. Baritone. Paris Opera 1851-1860s. Betly (a rather obscure opera by Donizetti) as Franz, and Miller in Verdi's Luisa Miller. A Pierre Petit photo.

(14) Gustave-Hippolyte Roger (Chapelle-Saint-Denis: 17 Dec 1815 - Paris: 13 Sep 1879). Joined the Opéra-Comique (1838) and remained there until his debut at the Paris Opéra in 1848. While hunting in Germany his gun accidentally discharged and hit him in the arm, which resulted in amputation. In the photograph, his artificial right arm is evident. After his accident he could no longer sustain a career in the big houses. He created several roles for the Opéra, with Jean de Leyde (Le Prophete) the most recognizable. A Montmartre photo.

(15) Fortunata Tedesco (Mantua, Italy: 14 Dec 1826 - after 1866). Soprano. Was Venus in the revised version of Tannhäuser performed on 13 March 1861 at L'Opéra Paris. A Pierre Petit photo.

(16) Marie Van Zandt (1858 - Cannes: 31 Dec 1919). American soprano. Two birth dates and locations have been attributed to her: Texas: 8 Oct 1861 and New York: 8 Oct 1858. I'll stick to the latter from The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. She was the first Lakmé (Opéra-Comique: 14 Apr 1883), which was specially written for her by Delibes. It was reported that her success in this role caused her jealous Opéra-Comique colleagues to wrongfully accuse her of being drunk on stage. She studied with her mother, Jennie Van Zandt, and in Milan with Lamperti. Her debut was in Turin (1879) as Zerlina. "We have had French opera at the Gaiety Theatre; but it has only served to show the remarkable natural talent of Mlle Van Zandt, whose sole extraordinary qualification is an agile soprano voice with a range that includes E natural in alt. She is supported by a company of striking examples of the defects of the French school of singing, from which she is herself by no means free." Bernard Shaw, Our Corner, July 1885. Benque, Paris, image.

(17) Zina Brozia: Soprano (1880-?) seen here in the title role of Thais. She made her Palais Garnier debut as Gila in Rigoletto (27 Mar 1908). Her operatic debut was at the Opéra-Comique (13 Sep 1905) as Violetta in Traviata. Sang also in Monte Carlo (1906), Parme (1908), Boston (1911). In 1914 she joined the Théâtre de Gaité à Paris. She continued to sing in Paris until 1950. A Cheri-Rousseau & Glauth photo, Paris.

(18) Marietta Alboni [orig. Maria Anna Marzia] (6 Mar 1823 - 23 Jun 1894): Italian contralto. Studied with Bertinotti. Worked personally with Rossini to learn his contralto roles. Debut Bologna 1842 as Climene in Pacini's Saffo. Leading contralto at London's Covent Garden and was considered a rival to Jenny Lind. Meyerbeer wrote Page's Aria (Les Huguenots) for her. She sang the baritone role of Carlos in the first Covent Garden Ernani when both Tamburini and Roncini turned it down. Sang at Rossini's funeral along with Adelina Patti. This is a Leon Cremiere, Paris, photograph (CDV).