19TH CENTURY OPERA SINGERS

CELESTINE GALLI-MARIE (Marie-Célestine Laurence Marié de l'Isle) (November 1840 – 22 September 1905) French mezzo-soprano Most famous for creating the title role in the opera Carmen.Born in Paris. She was taught singing by her father, Mécène Marié de l'Isle, Her début came in 1859 in Strasbourg, and she sang in Italian in Lisbon. She sang at the Opéra-Comique until 1885, premiering in Pergolesi's La serva padrona. Her most famous roles were in Thomas's Mignon (1866) and Bizet's Carmen (1875). She created the roles of Lazarille in Don César de Bazan, Vendredi in Robinson Crusoé, the title part in Fantasio, as well as roles in Lara, Le Capitaine Henriot, Fior d'Aliza, La Petite Fadette, and Piccolino. She also sang Taven in Mireille and Rose Friquet in Les dragons de Villars. She died in Vence, near Nice. Her voice was described as being of a good timbre, with clear diction and phrasing

Pauline as Orphee in 'Orphee et Eurydice" Gluck Pauline Viardot [née García] (July 18, 1821 – May 18, 1910) French mezzo-soprano, Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García was born in Paris to the Garcías, a Spanish opera family led by her father, tenor, singing teacher, composer and impresario Manuel García . She was 13 years younger than her beautiful sister, diva Maria Malibran, In 1837, 16-year-old Pauline García gave her first concert performance in Brussels and in 1839, made her opera debut as Desdemona in Rossini's Otello in London. This proved to be the surprise of the season. Despite her flaws, she had an exquisite technique combined with an astonishing degree of passion.

Pauline Viardot [née García] :July 18, 1821 – May 18, 1910) French mezzo-soprano ,Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García was born in Paris to the Garcías, a Spanish opera family led by her father, tenor, singing teacher, composer and impresario Manuel García . She was 13 years younger than her beautiful sister, diva Maria Malibran, In 1837, 16-year-old Pauline García gave her first concert performance in Brussels and in 1839, made her opera debut as Desdemona in Rossini's Otello in London. This proved to be the surprise of the season. Despite her flaws, she had an exquisite technique combined with an astonishing degree of passion.

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Saint Urbain soprano ...Performed at Paris 1858 in "Le Nid De Cigognes"(Cormon) with Ponchard ..11/11/1861 at Opera Comique as Catherine in "L'Etoile du Nord" (Meyerbeer)...1866 Opera Comique Paris as Gilda in "Rigoletto" (Verdi)

SAINT-URBAIN soprano ...Performed at Paris 1858 in "Le Nid De Cigognes"(Cormon) with Ponchard ..11/11/1861 at Opera Comique as Catherine in "L'Etoile du Nord" (Meyerbeer)...1866 Opera Comique Paris as Gilda in "Rigoletto" (Verdi)

as Catherine d’Aragon in "Henry VIII" by Saint-Saens ADA ADINI (1855 - February 1924) American operatic soprano who had an active international career from 1876 up into the first decade of the 20th century. She possessed a large, expressive voice which enabled her to sing a broad range of roles that extended from the coloratura soprano repertoire to dramatic soprano parts. Born Adele Chapman in Boston, Adini studied singing with Giovanni Sbriglia and Pauline Viardot in Paris. . She made her professional opera debut in 1876 at the opera house in Varese, Italy in the title role of Giacomo Meyerbeer's Dinorah. She was then active with the Mapleson Company in New York City, making her debut with the company in 1879 as Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto at the Academy of Music with Aramburo as the Duke of Mantua. She was later heard with the company as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore to her husband's Manrico. In 1882 she joined Bartolomeo Merelli's traveling opera troup with whom she performed in Berlin (1882) and Prague (1883).From 1887-1890 she was committed to the Palais Garnier where she notably created the role of the Duchesse d'Étampes in the world premiere of Camille Saint-Saëns' Ascanio (1890). In 1893 Adini sang Brünnhilde in the Italian premiere of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre at La Scala. She later repeated the role at the Teatro Regio di Torino (1898) and the Teatro Costanzi (1899). In 1894 and 1897 she was heard successfully at the Royal Opera House in London as Donna Anna in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni. She sang the role of Frédegonde in the world premiere of César Franck's Ghiselle at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1896.

LOLA BEETH (23 November 1861 – 18 March 1940) - soprano opera singer She debuted as "Elsa" in Lohengrin at the Metropolitan Opera House, on December 2, 1895. She was a member of the Vienna Opera Company who had previous experience singing in Berlin and Paris. As early as the summer of 1892 Beeth appeared at the Vienna Court Opera as Juliet in a production of Gounod' Roméo et Juliette. Her New York City performance was hampered by nervousness and having never sung the role in the Italian.Beeth sang an aria from La Juive (The Jewess) at the Metropolitan Opera House on January 11, 1896. Beeth was named as a favorite pupil by Mathilde Marchesi, who tutored her in singing in Paris. After the release of her book, Marchesi and Music, Marchesi planned to visit the United States, but her intended tour was canceled.

Etienne Troy In his creator role of Capulet "Romeo and Juliet" Gounod ETIENNE TROY . - Bass (.Toulouse, 21 July 1844-1909 Debut 1864 at the Théâtre-Lyrique Paris. In 1867 he created the role of Count Capulet at the première of Gounod’s “Roméo and Juliette” . In 1868 he left the Théâtre-Lyrique and and in the following years he performed at provincial opera houses in France. In 1879 he was engaged by the Théâtre-Comique Paris, where he stayed until the end of his singing career in 1905. . In 1881 he created the role of Luther at the première of Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’ Hoffmann”; in 1884 as the innkeeper in Massenet’s “Manon” and in 1900 as the 1st guard in Charpentier’s “Louise” (1900).

Louise Saint-Aguet ( Louise Augustine Maurice ) October 30, 1838 - December 1865 French Soprano Sang at the Grand Opera Paris 20 April 1861- 1 August 1865. She sang Jeannette in "Le Philtre ' by Auber , Ines in " La Favorita" by Donizetti. Bio information thanks to Bialystok-Stavenuiter

Louise Saint-Aguet ( Louise Augustine Maurice ) October 30, 1838 - December 1865 French Soprano Sang at the Grand Opera Paris 20 April 1861- 1 August 1865. She sang Jeannette in "Le Philtre ' by Auber , Ines in " La Favorita" by Donizetti. Bio information thanks to Bialystok-Stavenuiter

Marie Belval as Mathilde “William Tell” Rossini MARIE BELVAL (Julie Pauline Marie GAFFIOT ) Soprano -(Ghent, March 24, 1853 - New Orleans, 1901). Debut on 22 May 1874, salle Ventadour in LE HUGUENOTS (the Queen). Debut at Palais Garnier, sang in LA JUIVE (Eudoxie). ROBERT LE DIABLE (Isabelle 1874) and GUILLAUME TELL (Mathilde, 1875).

JEAN ALEXANDRE TALAZAC -Tenor (.Bordeaux, May 16, 1853 - 78.Chatou, December 26, 1892). Debut April 28, 1878 Lae Statue (Selim). He sang in 1879 at the premiere of the Magic Flute (Tamino) by Mozart, and la Traviata in 1886 (Rodolphe). He created in 1880 Jean de Nivelles (Jean) by Léo Delibes, 1881 les Contes d'Hoffmann (Hoffmann) by Jacques Offenbach, in 1883 Lakmé (Gérald) by Léo Delibes, January 19, 1884 Manon (Des Grieux) by Jules Massenet, in 1888 the Roi D'ys (Mylio)d'Edouard Lalo (Joseph) Romeo and Juliet (Romeo),Richard Cœur de Lion (Richard).

Caroline Fierens -Peters as Varedha “Le Mage” Massenet CREATOR Paris16/3/ 1891 CAROLINE FIERENS-PETERS Soprano Brussels 1867 - 1913 born in Brussels). Debut in LA JUIVE (Rachel) on 06 June 1890. Sang LE HUGUENOTS (Valentine), AIDA (Aida) and L'AFRICAINE (Selika) in 1890; ROBERT LE DIABLE (Alice) in 1892. Created March 16, 1891 the MAGE (Varedha) by Jules Massenet, LOHENGRIN (Ortrude) and LA VIE DU POETE. .

JEAN FRANCOIS PHILIBERT BERTHELIER. -(.panissieres, December 14, 1830-September 27, 1888) ,Tenor. Actor of the Bouffes-Parisiens, he was engaged at the Opéra-Comique from 1856 to 1862 where he was an incomparable Aignelet in Maître Pathelin.

Nellie Melba As Juliette "Romeo & Juliett" Gounod Dame NELLIE MELBA GBE (Helen Porter Mitchell) (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), Australian Soprano Melba was taught to play the piano and first sang in public around age six.She was educated at a local boarding school and then at the Presbyterian Ladies' College. She studied singing with Mary Ellen Christian (a former pupil of Manuel García) and Pietro Cecchi, an Italian tenor, who was a respected teacher in Melbourne. In her teens, Melba continued to perform in amateur concerts in and around Melbourne, and she played the organ at church. Making her professional debut in Melbourne concerts in 1884. On the strength of local success, she travelled to London in search of an opportunity.Her debut at the Princes' Hall in 1886 made little impression, and she sought work unsuccessfully from Sir Arthur Sullivan, Carl Rosa and Augustus Harris.She then went to Paris to study with the leading teacher Mathilde Marchesi, who instantly recognised the young singer's potential: Melba made such rapid progress that she was allowed to sing the "Mad Scene" from Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet at a matinée musicale in Marchesi's house in December the same year, in the presence of the composer.Her talent was so evident that, after less than a year with Marchesi, the impresario Maurice Strakosch gave her a ten-year contract at 1000 francs annually. After she had signed, she received a far better offer of 3000 francs per month from the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, but Strakosch would not release her and obtained an injunction preventing her from performing .The matter was resolved by Strakosch's sudden death.She made her operatic debut four days later as Gilda in Rigoletto at La Monnaie on 12 October 1887.. It was at this time, on Marchesi's advice, that she adopted the stage name of "Melba", a contraction of the name of her home city.Her Covent Garden début in May 1888, in the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. She received a friendly but not excited reception The following year, she performed at the Opéra in Paris, in the role of Ophélie in Hamlet; She travelled across Europe to St Petersburg to sing for Tsar Nicholas II: and sang in Paris, Brussels, Vienna , Milan, and Berlin Melba sang the role of Nedda in Pagliacci at Covent Garden in 1893, soon after its Italian premiere. The composer was present, and said that the role had never been so well played before.[19] In December of that year, Melba sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York for the first time. As at her Covent Garden debut, she appeared as Lucia di Lammermoor, Her Roles included mostly in the lyric soprano repertoire, but with some heavier roles also. She sang the title roles in Herman Bemberg's Elaine and Arthur Goring Thomas's Esmeralda. Her Italian parts included Gilda in Rigoletto, the title role in Aida Desdemona in Otello, Luisa in Mascagni's I Rantzau, Nedda in Pagliacci, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Violetta in La traviata, and Mimi in La bohème. In the French repertoire, she sang Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Marguerite in Faust, Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots, the title role in Saint-Saëns's Hélène, which was written for her, and Micaëla in Carmen.

Nellie Melba as Ophelia 'Hamlet" Ambroise Dame NELLIE MELBA GBE (Helen Porter Mitchell) (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), Australian Soprano Melba was taught to play the piano and first sang in public around age six.She was educated at a local boarding school and then at the Presbyterian Ladies' College. She studied singing with Mary Ellen Christian (a former pupil of Manuel García) and Pietro Cecchi, an Italian tenor, who was a respected teacher in Melbourne. In her teens, Melba continued to perform in amateur concerts in and around Melbourne, and she played the organ at church. Making her professional debut in Melbourne concerts in 1884. On the strength of local success, she travelled to London in search of an opportunity.Her debut at the Princes' Hall in 1886 made little impression, and she sought work unsuccessfully from Sir Arthur Sullivan, Carl Rosa and Augustus Harris.She then went to Paris to study with the leading teacher Mathilde Marchesi, who instantly recognised the young singer's potential: Melba made such rapid progress that she was allowed to sing the "Mad Scene" from Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet at a matinée musicale in Marchesi's house in December the same year, in the presence of the composer.Her talent was so evident that, after less than a year with Marchesi, the impresario Maurice Strakosch gave her a ten-year contract at 1000 francs annually. After she had signed, she received a far better offer of 3000 francs per month from the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, but Strakosch would not release her and obtained an injunction preventing her from performing .The matter was resolved by Strakosch's sudden death.She made her operatic debut four days later as Gilda in Rigoletto at La Monnaie on 12 October 1887.. It was at this time, on Marchesi's advice, that she adopted the stage name of "Melba", a contraction of the name of her home city.Her Covent Garden début in May 1888, in the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. She received a friendly but not excited reception The following year, she performed at the Opéra in Paris, in the role of Ophélie in Hamlet; She travelled across Europe to St Petersburg to sing for Tsar Nicholas II: and sang in Paris, Brussels, Vienna , Milan, and Berlin Melba sang the role of Nedda in Pagliacci at Covent Garden in 1893, soon after its Italian premiere. The composer was present, and said that the role had never been so well played before.[19] In December of that year, Melba sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York for the first time. As at her Covent Garden debut, she appeared as Lucia di Lammermoor, Her Roles included mostly in the lyric soprano repertoire, but with some heavier roles also. She sang the title roles in Herman Bemberg's Elaine and Arthur Goring Thomas's Esmeralda. Her Italian parts included Gilda in Rigoletto, the title role in Aida Desdemona in Otello, Luisa in Mascagni's I Rantzau, Nedda in Pagliacci, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Violetta in La traviata, and Mimi in La bohème. In the French repertoire, she sang Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Marguerite in Faust, Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots, the title role in Saint-Saëns's Hélène, which was written for her, and Micaëla in Carmen.

Dame NELLIE MELBA GBE (Helen Porter Mitchell) (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), Australian Soprano Melba was taught to play the piano and first sang in public around age six.She was educated at a local boarding school and then at the Presbyterian Ladies' College. She studied singing with Mary Ellen Christian (a former pupil of Manuel García) and Pietro Cecchi, an Italian tenor, who was a respected teacher in Melbourne. In her teens, Melba continued to perform in amateur concerts in and around Melbourne, and she played the organ at church. Making her professional debut in Melbourne concerts in 1884. On the strength of local success, she travelled to London in search of an opportunity.Her debut at the Princes' Hall in 1886 made little impression, and she sought work unsuccessfully from Sir Arthur Sullivan, Carl Rosa and Augustus Harris.She then went to Paris to study with the leading teacher Mathilde Marchesi, who instantly recognised the young singer's potential: Melba made such rapid progress that she was allowed to sing the "Mad Scene" from Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet at a matinée musicale in Marchesi's house in December the same year, in the presence of the composer.Her talent was so evident that, after less than a year with Marchesi, the impresario Maurice Strakosch gave her a ten-year contract at 1000 francs annually. After she had signed, she received a far better offer of 3000 francs per month from the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, but Strakosch would not release her and obtained an injunction preventing her from performing .The matter was resolved by Strakosch's sudden death.She made her operatic debut four days later as Gilda in Rigoletto at La Monnaie on 12 October 1887.. It was at this time, on Marchesi's advice, that she adopted the stage name of "Melba", a contraction of the name of her home city.Her Covent Garden début in May 1888, in the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. She received a friendly but not excited reception The following year, she performed at the Opéra in Paris, in the role of Ophélie in Hamlet; She travelled across Europe to St Petersburg to sing for Tsar Nicholas II: and sang in Paris, Brussels, Vienna , Milan, and Berlin Melba sang the role of Nedda in Pagliacci at Covent Garden in 1893, soon after its Italian premiere. The composer was present, and said that the role had never been so well played before.[19] In December of that year, Melba sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York for the first time. As at her Covent Garden debut, she appeared as Lucia di Lammermoor, Her Roles included mostly in the lyric soprano repertoire, but with some heavier roles also. She sang the title roles in Herman Bemberg's Elaine and Arthur Goring Thomas's Esmeralda. Her Italian parts included Gilda in Rigoletto, the title role in Aida Desdemona in Otello, Luisa in Mascagni's I Rantzau, Nedda in Pagliacci, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Violetta in La traviata, and Mimi in La bohème. In the French repertoire, she sang Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Marguerite in Faust, Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots, the title role in Saint-Saëns's Hélène, which was written for her, and Micaëla in Carmen.