Frances Alda
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Frances Alda (born Fanny Jane Davis) (May 31, 1879? - September 18, 1952) was a New Zealand operatic soprano. Fanny Jane Davis was born in Christchurch in 1879. She came from a singing family: her mother Leonore was a singer who divorced Alda's father because of conflicts about her career. Alda's maternal grandparents, Martin and Fanny Simonsen, were also singers. Alda's mother died at an early age. Alda's first stage name was "Francie Adler," after her stepfather's surname. At 22, Alda, now renamed "Frances Jean Davies" to hide her Jewish background, set forth for Europe and studied with the famous teacher Mathilde Marchesi, who had taught Nellie Melba and Emma Eames. It was Marchesi who gave Alda her final stage name of Frances Alda. Alda debuted at Covent Garden but Nellie Melba, who tolerated no rivals, said to the management, "It's either Alda or me." However, her performances captured the attention of Arturo Toscanini and Giulio Gatti-Casazza of La Scala, two of the most powerful figures in world opera, and she sang at La Scala for three seasons from 1906-1908.
Alda eventually married Giulio Gatti-Casazza, and followed him when he became general manager of the Metropolitan Opera. Her presence as his wife inspired jealousy among her colleagues and ridicule from the New York critics, such as W.J. Henderson. Of her debut, one critic wrote: "The young singer who made her debut last evening comes from the land of the sheep and she bleated like one of them." However, Alda soon established herself as a leading soprano of the house, and sang roles in operas like Martha, Manon Lescaut, and La Boheme. She also made many recordings for the Victor company. Her marriage to Gatti-Casazza was an unhappy one, however, and they divorced in 1929, and Alda left the Metropolitan soon afterwards.
The feisty Alda claimed to have "a temper as red as her hair," and anecdotes of her fill many an opera book. One of the most famous anecdotes is how she dragged Rosa Ponselle back to her apartment, made all her maids line up against the wall, and barked, "This is Rosa Ponselle, she has the most beautiful voice in the world, now take a look at her and get back to work!!!" However, Alda hit back with a famous autobiography entitled Men, Women, and Tenors, which is light on facts but filled with colorful stories. It remains one of the most enjoyable autobiographies. However, Alda carefully invented a family background, claiming her grandparents were of the "French nobility," probably to hide her Jewish background. Alda remarried in 1941 to Ray vir Den, and remained happily married to him until her death.
Alda's voice was a very beautiful one, with a fast but unintruding vibrato, and like all of Marchesi's students her singing had polish, and a wonderful trill.
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