- Frances Alda
Frances Alda (born Fanny Jane Davis) (
May 31 ,1879 -September 18 ,1952 ) was aNew Zealand -bornsoprano . She achieved fame as an operatic diva during the first three decades of the 20th Century due to her outstanding singing voice and colourful personality.Alda was born in
Christchurch into a musical family and raised as a child inMelbourne , Australia. She sang in productions ofGilbert and Sullivan in Melbourne before leaving the Antipodes for Europe at the age of 22 in order to undertake additional study and pursue an international singing career. After receiving lessons from the renowned teacherMathilde Marchesi in Paris, she made her debut at theOpera-Comique in 1904 in Massenet'sManon . She appeared at the Royal Opera HouseCovent Garden , London, in 1906 and atLa Scala , Milan, during the 1906-1908 seasons. In 1910, she married the La Scala impresarioGiulio Gatti-Casazza .Alda's husband had become director of the
Metropolitan Opera , New York, in 1908. It was in New York that Alda furthered her career, appearing to acclaim in such famous operas asMartha ,Manon Lescaut ,Otello ,Faust ,Mefistofele andLa Boheme . It was during this time that she recorded for theVictor Talking Machine Company . Alda also created the title roles inVictor Herbert 's Madeleine and Henry Hadley'sCleopatra's Night .Alda toured New Zealand in 1927. She and Gatti-Casazza separated the following year and then divorced. In 1929, she left the Met but continued to give concerts, make radio broadcasts and appear in vaudeville. Alda's acerbic 1937 autobiography was titled "Men, Women, & Tenors". The book reflects her fiery, forthright temperament. She remarried in America in 1941 and travelled extensively in later life. She died of a stroke in
Venice , Italy, aged 83.Alda was one of the finest lyric sopranos of her era, possessing a beautiful vocal timbre and a splendid technique. Her recordings, available on CD, repay frequent listening.
External links
* [http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/alda.html Frances Alda] - New Zealand’s most famous daughter
* [http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3c00000/3c03000/3c03100/3c03196v.jpgPhoto] from the Library of Congress's George Grantham Bain Collection
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
