(1) Geraldine Farrar as Amica.

(2) (3) Geraldine Farrar as the Goosegirl (Königskinder).

(4) Emmy Destinn as Minnie (Fanciulla del West).

(5) Enrico Caruso as Dick Johnson (Fanciulla del West).

(6) Roberto Stagno and Gemma Bellincioni in Cavalleria Rusticana.

(7) Ferruccio Corradetti, Amedeo Bassi, Bice Adami-Corradetti in Chopin.

(8) Roberto Stagno and Gemma Bellincioni in Tasca's Santa Lucia.

(9) Gemma Bellincioni in Tasca's Santa Lucia.

(10) Rosina Storchio and Mario Sammarco in Zazà.

(11) Annie Krull as Elektra. Elektra by Richard Strauss. Premiered at the Hofoper in Dresden 25 Jan 1909. Also with Siems, Schumann-Heink, and Perron.

(12) Bernardo De Muro as Folco, the falconer, in Mascagni's Isabeau.

(13-15) 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 is seen here in her world premiere role of 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.

Van Zandt 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. A Benque photo.

(16) Eva von der Osten (Octavian), (17) Minnie Nast (Sophie), and (18) Margarethe Siems (Marschallin) in the world premiere of Der Rosenkavalier.

(19) Maria Kuznetsova as Cléopâtre. Cléopâtre by Massenet. Premiered (posthumously) at the Opera de Monte Carlo, 23 Feb 1914.

(20) Maria Kuznetsova as Cléopâtre.

(21) Rose Caron [orig. Meuniez]: French soprano (17 Nov 1857 - 9 Apr 1930): Stage debut Brussels 1883 as Alice (Robert le Diable). At Monnaie created Brunehilde in Reyer's Sigurd (1884) as well as the title role in his Salammbô (seen here) (10 Feb 1890: Monnaie, Brussels), and Godard's Jocelyn (1888). First French Sieglinde and Desdemona.

(22) Marie-Constance Sasse [also known as Sax or Sass] (26 Jan 1838 (or 1834) - 8 Nov 1907): Belgian soprano. Studied with Ugalde. Worked as a vocalist in cafés to support her family after her father died. One source has her debut Théâtre-Lyrique (1 Oct 1859) as the Countess in Les Noces de Figaro. Another source has her debut in Venice in 1852 as Gilda in Rigoletto. She created Selika of L'Africaine (28 Apr 1865) (seen here), and Elizabeth in Don Carlos (11 Mar 1867). She was the first Paris Elisabeth in Tannhaüser (1861). She was well known for her temperament and it got her in trouble with Verdi who refused to let her create the role of Amneris in Aida because of it. She was married to bass Castlemary, who she later divorced. She used the stage name of Sax for awhile until Adolphe Sax, creator of the saxophone, forced her to drop the use of that name. She died in poverty.

(23) Mizzi Günther and Louis Treumann in the world premiere of the operetta Lustigen Witwe, which occurred at the Theater an der Wien on 30 Dec 1905.

(24) Jean Périer: (Paris: 2 Feb 1869 - Neuilly: 6 Nov 1954): French baritone. Debut Paris, O.C, 1892, Monostatos. Created many roles in Paris including Pelléas (seen here), Ramiro in L'Heure espagnole, Landry in Messanger's Fortunio, and Marouf. He was the first Sharpless in France. This is a Mishkin Studio (New York) portrait on the thickest backboard I've ever come across in a mass-produced cabinet card.

(25) Gounod's Faust was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique (Paris) on March 19, 1859 with Caroline Miolan-Carvalho in the role of Marguerite (Faust).