Emma Albani
Encyclopedia
Dame Emma Albani DBE (1 November 1847 – 3 April 1930) was a leading soprano
of the 19th century and early 20th century, and the first Canadian singer to become an international star. Her repertoire focused on the operas of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and Wagner. She performed across Europe and North America.
Albani was born Marie-Louise-Emma-Cécile Lajeunesse in Chambly, Quebec
, to the professional musician Joseph Lajeunesse and his wife, Mélina Mignault. Her date of birth is usually given as 1 November 1847, but other authors have placed her birth in 1848 or 1850, and Albani's memoir puts her birth in 1852. She began her musical studies with her mother, and at age five her father took over her musical lessons. Her father was a proficient musician who was skilled with the violin
, harp
, piano
and organ
. He kept her on a strong practice regimen, with as much as four hours a day of lessons on the harp and piano.
The family moved to Plattsburgh, New York
in 1852. In 1856 after the death of her mother, she continued her education in a Montreal
convent
-school, run by the Dames du Sacré-Coeur where her father had obtained the position of Music Master. This afforded her a better education than she might otherwise receive, and additional musical instruction. On 24 August 1860 she and Adelina Patti
were soloists in the world premiere of Charles Wugk Sabatier
's Cantata in Montreal which was performed in honour of the visit of the Prince of Wales
. However, she was ultimately unable to finance a musical education in Quebec, where singing and acting were considered unsavoury careers for a woman, and her family moved to Albany, New York
in 1865. There she became a popular singer, an organist and teacher of singing and saved enough money to continue her studies.
In 1868, she travelled to Paris, where she studied with Gilbert-Louis Duprez at the Paris Conservatoire. She spent six months in Paris, training with Duprez. She then travelled to Italy, where she studied Italian opera singing with Francesco Lamperti
. Under the guidance of her elocution instructor, Signor Delorenzi, she changed her name to the simpler Emma Albani, which sounded more European. In 1870 she made her debut at Messina in La
Sonnambula using the surname Albani.
's La Sonnambula
. Her debut performance was very well received. She later recalled:
She returned to Milan after her contract in Messina had expired, to resume her instruction by Lamperti. Additional work offers began to pour in. She soon accepted a role in Rigoletto
being performed in Cento
. Further roles followed in Florence
and Malta
, with parts in La sonnambula
, Lucia di Lammermoor
, Roberto il diavolo
, Il barbiere di Siviglia and L'Africaine
. After spending the winter of 1870-1871 performing in Malta, she auditioned for Frederick Gye
, the manager of Covent Garden
in London. He was impressed by her talent and signed her to a five-year contract. She was scheduled to make her London debut in the spring of 1872. Before her London contract began she returned to Italy to resume her studies with Lamperti. She made one last performance in Florence, giving renditions of La Sonnambula and Lucia di Lammermoor before returning to London.
in La sonnambula
. Critics and audience members alike were impressed with her strong performance in the role, and her admirers presented her with gifts of flowers and jewellery. At Covent Garden she developed an interest in oratorio
after being introduced to it by Sir Julius Benedict
and Josiah Pittman, who encouraged her to explore it. Her first opportunity to present a piece came in October 1872, when she performed "Angels, ever bright and fair" from Handel
's Theodora
at the Norwich Festival
. She also found time and opportunity to travel to Paris, where she performed at the Salle Ventadour
during the off season.
Her second season in London included performances in the roles of Ophelia in Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet
and the Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
. During the off time after the second season she travelled to Moscow, performing in La sonnambula, Rigoletto, Hamlet and Lucia di Lammermoor, then she went to St. Petersburg, where the Tsar
viewed her performances. Her reception in Russia was extremely positive.
In her third season in London, she performed in mostly the same roles she had in her first two seasons: La sonnambula, Lucia di Lammermoor, Linda di Chamounix
and Martha
. The competition in the opera world of London was very stiff, and it was common for performers to be possessive of their roles. Continuing to perform the same roles was not unusual for a singer like Albani. After her third season, Queen Victoria requested a private performance from Albani, who travelled to Windsor Castle
in July 1874 to perform the aria "Caro nome" from Rigoletto, the folk ballad "Robin Adair", the Bach/Gounod "Ave Maria
", and the popular song "Home, Sweet Home
". The Queen was suitably impressed by her performance and would call Albani back to perform other pieces, by composers such as Brahms, Grieg, Handel and Mendelssohn
, as well as traditional French and Scottish tunes. In the fall of 1874, she undertook of a tour of the United States, visiting New York
, Boston
, Philadelphia, Baltimore
, Washington, D.C.
, Chicago
and Albany
. On her tour of America, she was accompanied by Ernest Gye, the son of Frederick Gye. She learned the role of Elsa in Wagner
's Lohengrin
in two weeks, performing it in New York. The opera was performed in Italian, which was also the custom at Covent Garden.
She returned to London for her fourth season at Covent Garden in 1875. After the season, she performed at the Norwich Festival, where she sang in Mendelssohn
's "Hymn of Praise" Symphony and Julius Benedict
's oratorio The Legend of St. Cecilia. In her fifth season in London (1876) she performed the role of Elisabeth in the London premiere of Wagner's Tannhäuser
. Afterward she went to Paris and sang at the Théâtre des Italiens, where she was well received, and gave a special performance for Patrice de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta. Albani married Ernest Gye on 6 August 1878. She quickly became pregnant, but continued to tour and perform until shortly before the birth of her son Frederick Ernest Gye on 4 June 1879. He was to be the couple's only child. She did not return to the stage until the spring of 1880, when she sang in Ferdinand Hérold's Le Pré aux clercs
at Covent Garden.
Throughout the 1880s, Albani toured Europe and North America, garnering praise wherever she travelled. In 1881, Albani was invited to perform in Lohengrin, which was being given at the Berlin Royal Opera. She agreed to appear in the role of Elsa, which she had previously sung in Italian, and relearned the part in German. The performance was attended by the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm I. The reception was very positive, earning three curtain calls. In 1882, the Kaiser awarded her the title of Hofkammersängerin
.
In 1883, she gave three recitals in Montreal. More than ten thousand people showed up to greet her upon her arrival, and poet Louis-Honoré Fréchette
composed a poem in her honour which he read at a reception. Her first operatic performance in Canada came on 13 February 1883 in Toronto, at the Grand Opera House
where she performed in Lucia di Lammermoor. On 15 July 1884 in London she sang the role of Brunehild in Ernest Reyer
's opera Sigurd
and the role of Juliette in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette
in the same season.
She retired to Scotland for the summer, and in the fall toured Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1886, she met Franz Liszt
in London, who praised her performance in his sacred cantata The Legend of St. Elisabeth.
Albani made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House
in New York City on 20 November 1891 as Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots
. She performed the role 8 more times and appeared a total of 29 times that season: twice as Desdemona in the company's first ever performances of Verdi's Otello
, as well as a gala performance of Act IV on 9 December (both with the Met on tour in Chicago); three times as Gilda in Rigoletto; once as Violetta in Act I of Verdi's La traviata
(on a double bill with Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana
, in which Emma Eames
's sang Santuzza); twice as Elsa in Lohengrin
; once as Margeurite in Gounod's Faust; four times as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni
; four times as Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger; and once as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer. All the operas in which she appeared were performed in Italian. As the season progressed some critics remarked on the wear and tear that was becoming evident in her voice, but praised her artistry and experience. Of her last performance at the Met on 31 March 1892 The New York Times wrote: "The Senta of Mlle. Albani was not vocally perfect, yet it had so many excellences that her hearers must have been inclined to forgive the departures from the pitch which seem to have become an inseparable accompaniment of her singing of late. She did much to atone for them by the intelligence of her work and by the dramatic earnestness with which she imbued all her singing. She earned a fair share of the honors of the evening."
Even in Albani's final season at Covent Garden in 1896, she continued to receive strongly positive reviews. The greatest triumph of her career came on 26 June 1896, when she sang Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde
, with Jean de Reszke
in his first London Tristan, Louise Meisslinger as Brangäne, David Bispham
as Kurwenal, Edouard de Reszke
as King Marke, and Luigi Mancinelli
conducting. There were a total of four performances, all of which sold out despite the higher than normal ticket prices, and the opera was sung in German. On 24 July she sang Valentine in Les Huguenots. There had been no announcement, and few people would have realized, it was the last time they were to hear her in opera. Her career at Covent Garden had lasted for twenty-four years.
After retiring from Covent Garden in 1896, Albani departed for a tour of her native Canada, performing in venues across the country. In 1898, she toured Australia. She also was active in oratorio in Britain. On the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Albani travelled to London and sang the solo role at her final service. In spring 1908, the veteran Albani toured the English provinces as part of a company containing two budding talents: 10-year-old pianist Marie Novello
, who two years later would become one of Theodor Leschetizky's last students, and John McCormack, who only months before had made his own Covent Garden
debut. Albani gave her last public performance on 14 October 1911. That same year she released a book, Forty Years of Song. The book was effectively a memoir
, recounting stories of her youth, travels and career, and impressions of fellow performers and the royalty she met over her life, as well as providing some useful advice on singing.
She and her husband retired to Kensington
. Poor investments resulted in the loss of much of their wealth, and Albani was forced to give musical lessons to earn income. Her husband died in 1925, compounding the situation, but benefit concerts arranged by friends provided sufficient income for Albani. She died in London on 3 April 1930.
in 1897, often known as the "Beethoven Medal".
Madame Selitsky, the prima donna who performs in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables
(1908) was inspired by Albani. Montgomery later wrote a profile of the singer for Courageous Women (1934), a non-fiction work.
In 1925, Albani was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by King George V
.
The Canadian Commission for landmarks and historic monuments mounted a plaque at her birthplace in 1939, which was replaced with a stele
in 1977.
Several streets and places have been named after her in her native Quebec. Two streets in Montreal
have thus been named. The first was dedicated in 1912, but was later removed when the road was merged with another street. The second, avenue Albani was so named in 1969.
Canada Post
commissioned a postage stamp
honoring her on the 50th anniversary of her death. The stamp was designed by artist Huntley Brown and released on 4 July 1980. 11,700,000 stamps were printed.
She is depicted in a stained-glass mural in the Place-des-Arts metro station in Montreal
.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
of the 19th century and early 20th century, and the first Canadian singer to become an international star. Her repertoire focused on the operas of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and Wagner. She performed across Europe and North America.
Childhood
Chambly, Quebec
Chambly is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, about to the south east of Montreal.- Geography :It sits on the Richelieu River in the Regional County Municipality of La-Vallée-du-Richelieu, at .-History:...
, to the professional musician Joseph Lajeunesse and his wife, Mélina Mignault. Her date of birth is usually given as 1 November 1847, but other authors have placed her birth in 1848 or 1850, and Albani's memoir puts her birth in 1852. She began her musical studies with her mother, and at age five her father took over her musical lessons. Her father was a proficient musician who was skilled with the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
. He kept her on a strong practice regimen, with as much as four hours a day of lessons on the harp and piano.
The family moved to Plattsburgh, New York
Plattsburgh (city), New York
Plattsburgh is a city in and county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 19,989 at the 2010 census. The population of the unincorporated areas within the Town of Plattsburgh was 11,870 as of the 2010 census; making the population for the immediate, urban Plattsburgh,...
in 1852. In 1856 after the death of her mother, she continued her education in a Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
-school, run by the Dames du Sacré-Coeur where her father had obtained the position of Music Master. This afforded her a better education than she might otherwise receive, and additional musical instruction. On 24 August 1860 she and Adelina Patti
Adelina Patti
Adelina Patti was a highly acclaimed 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851 and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914...
were soloists in the world premiere of Charles Wugk Sabatier
Charles Wugk Sabatier
Charles-Désiré-Joseph Wugk Sabatier was a Canadian pianist, organist, composer, and music educator of French birth.-Early life and career in Europe:...
's Cantata in Montreal which was performed in honour of the visit of the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
. However, she was ultimately unable to finance a musical education in Quebec, where singing and acting were considered unsavoury careers for a woman, and her family moved to Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
in 1865. There she became a popular singer, an organist and teacher of singing and saved enough money to continue her studies.
In 1868, she travelled to Paris, where she studied with Gilbert-Louis Duprez at the Paris Conservatoire. She spent six months in Paris, training with Duprez. She then travelled to Italy, where she studied Italian opera singing with Francesco Lamperti
Francesco Lamperti
Francesco Lamperti was an Italian singing teacher.A native of Savona, Lamperti attended the Milan Conservatory where, beginning in 1850, he taught for a quarter of a century. He was director at the Teatro Filodrammatico in Lodi. In 1875 he left the school and began to teach as a private tutor...
. Under the guidance of her elocution instructor, Signor Delorenzi, she changed her name to the simpler Emma Albani, which sounded more European. In 1870 she made her debut at Messina in La
Sonnambula using the surname Albani.
Development in Italy
Her funds began to run low, and although her training was not yet complete she began to look for work to help support her schooling. She found a position in Messina, and her operatic debut was on 30 March 1870, in Messina, playing Amina in Vincenzo BelliniVincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's La Sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
. Her debut performance was very well received. She later recalled:
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
being performed in Cento
Cento
Cento is a city and comune in the province of Ferrara, part of the region Emilia-Romagna . In Italian "cento" means 100.-History:The name Cento is a reference to the centuriation of the Po Valley...
. Further roles followed in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, with parts in La sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
, Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, Roberto il diavolo
Robert le diable (opera)
Robert le diable is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, often regarded as the first grand opera. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Casimir Delavigne and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique, "Meyerbeer persuaded...
, Il barbiere di Siviglia and L'Africaine
L'Africaine
L'africaine is a grand opera, the last work of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French libretto was written by Eugène Scribe. The opera is about fictitious events in the life of the real historical person Vasco da Gama...
. After spending the winter of 1870-1871 performing in Malta, she auditioned for Frederick Gye
Frederick Gye
Frederick Gye was an English businessman and opera manager who for many years ran what is now the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.-Life:...
, the manager of Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in London. He was impressed by her talent and signed her to a five-year contract. She was scheduled to make her London debut in the spring of 1872. Before her London contract began she returned to Italy to resume her studies with Lamperti. She made one last performance in Florence, giving renditions of La Sonnambula and Lucia di Lammermoor before returning to London.
Move to London's Covent Garden
Albani arrived in London in the spring, and made her professional debut on 2 April 1872 as AminaAmina
Amina Sukhera was a Hausa Muslim Warrior Queen of Zazzau , in what is now north central Nigeria. She is the subject of many legends, but is widely believed by historians to have been a real ruler, though contemporary evidence about her is limited...
in La sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
. Critics and audience members alike were impressed with her strong performance in the role, and her admirers presented her with gifts of flowers and jewellery. At Covent Garden she developed an interest in oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
after being introduced to it by Sir Julius Benedict
Julius Benedict
Sir Julius Benedict was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career.-Life:...
and Josiah Pittman, who encouraged her to explore it. Her first opportunity to present a piece came in October 1872, when she performed "Angels, ever bright and fair" from Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's Theodora
Theodora (Handel)
Theodora is an oratorio in three acts by George Frideric Handel, set to an English libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio concerns the Christian martyr Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover, Didymus....
at the Norwich Festival
Norfolk and Norwich Festival
Norfolk & Norwich Festival is an arts organisation based in Norwich, England which is primarily responsible for the eponymous international arts festival held in annually every May, with events also held throughout the wider county of Norfolk....
. She also found time and opportunity to travel to Paris, where she performed at the Salle Ventadour
Salle Ventadour
The Salle Ventadour, a former Parisian theatre in the rue Neuve-Ventadour, now the rue Méhul , was built between 1826 and 1829 for the Opéra-Comique, to designs by Jacques-Marie Huvé, a prominent architect...
during the off season.
Her second season in London included performances in the roles of Ophelia in Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet
Hamlet (opera)
Hamlet is an opéra in five acts by the French composer Ambroise Thomas, with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier based on a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas, père and Paul Meurice of Shakespeare's play Hamlet.- Ophelia mania in Paris:...
and the Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
. During the off time after the second season she travelled to Moscow, performing in La sonnambula, Rigoletto, Hamlet and Lucia di Lammermoor, then she went to St. Petersburg, where the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
viewed her performances. Her reception in Russia was extremely positive.
In her third season in London, she performed in mostly the same roles she had in her first two seasons: La sonnambula, Lucia di Lammermoor, Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
and Martha
Martha (opera)
Martha, oder Der Markt zu Richmond is a 'romantic comic' opera in four acts by Friedrich von Flotow, set to a German libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese and based on a story by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges....
. The competition in the opera world of London was very stiff, and it was common for performers to be possessive of their roles. Continuing to perform the same roles was not unusual for a singer like Albani. After her third season, Queen Victoria requested a private performance from Albani, who travelled to Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
in July 1874 to perform the aria "Caro nome" from Rigoletto, the folk ballad "Robin Adair", the Bach/Gounod "Ave Maria
Ave Maria (Gounod)
The Bach/Gounod Ave Maria is a popular and much-recorded setting of the Latin text Ave Maria.Written by French Romantic composer Charles Gounod in 1859, his Ave Maria consists of a melody superimposed over the Prelude No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier, written by...
", and the popular song "Home, Sweet Home
Home! Sweet Home!
"Home! Sweet Home!" is a song that has remained well-known for over 150 years. Adapted from American actor and dramatist John Howard Payne's 1823 opera Clari, Maid of Milan, the song's melody was composed by Englishman Sir Henry Bishop with lyrics by Payne...
". The Queen was suitably impressed by her performance and would call Albani back to perform other pieces, by composers such as Brahms, Grieg, Handel and Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
, as well as traditional French and Scottish tunes. In the fall of 1874, she undertook of a tour of the United States, visiting New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Philadelphia, Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. On her tour of America, she was accompanied by Ernest Gye, the son of Frederick Gye. She learned the role of Elsa in Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
in two weeks, performing it in New York. The opera was performed in Italian, which was also the custom at Covent Garden.
She returned to London for her fourth season at Covent Garden in 1875. After the season, she performed at the Norwich Festival, where she sang in Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's "Hymn of Praise" Symphony and Julius Benedict
Julius Benedict
Sir Julius Benedict was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career.-Life:...
's oratorio The Legend of St. Cecilia. In her fifth season in London (1876) she performed the role of Elisabeth in the London premiere of Wagner's Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
. Afterward she went to Paris and sang at the Théâtre des Italiens, where she was well received, and gave a special performance for Patrice de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta. Albani married Ernest Gye on 6 August 1878. She quickly became pregnant, but continued to tour and perform until shortly before the birth of her son Frederick Ernest Gye on 4 June 1879. He was to be the couple's only child. She did not return to the stage until the spring of 1880, when she sang in Ferdinand Hérold's Le Pré aux clercs
Le Pré aux clercs
Le pré aux clercs is an opéra comique in three acts by Ferdinand Hérold with a libretto by François-Antoine-Eugène de Planard based on Prosper Mérimée's Chronique du temps de Charles IX of 1829.-Performance history:...
at Covent Garden.
Kammersänger
Kammersänger , abbreviation: "Ks.", literally means "Chamber singer." It is a German honorific title for distinguished singers...
.
In 1883, she gave three recitals in Montreal. More than ten thousand people showed up to greet her upon her arrival, and poet Louis-Honoré Fréchette
Louis-Honoré Fréchette
Louis-Honoré Fréchette, , was a Canadian poet, politician, playwright, and short story writer.-Biography:...
composed a poem in her honour which he read at a reception. Her first operatic performance in Canada came on 13 February 1883 in Toronto, at the Grand Opera House
Grand Opera House (Toronto)
The Grand Opera House was an opera house and concert hall located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Opened in 1874 on Adelaide Street West, west of Yonge Street, the Grand Opera House was Toronto's premier concert hall during the late 19th century...
where she performed in Lucia di Lammermoor. On 15 July 1884 in London she sang the role of Brunehild in Ernest Reyer
Ernest Reyer
Ernest Reyer, the adopted name of Louis Étienne Ernest Rey, was a French opera composer and music critic .- Biography :...
's opera Sigurd
Sigurd (opera)
Sigurd is an opera in four acts and nine scenes by the French composer Ernest Reyer on a libretto by Camille du Locle and Alfred Blau. Like Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, the story is based on the Niebelungenlied and the Eddas, with some crucial differences from the better known Wagnerian version...
and the role of Juliette in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
in the same season.
She retired to Scotland for the summer, and in the fall toured Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1886, she met Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
in London, who praised her performance in his sacred cantata The Legend of St. Elisabeth.
Albani made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York City on 20 November 1891 as Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
. She performed the role 8 more times and appeared a total of 29 times that season: twice as Desdemona in the company's first ever performances of Verdi's Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
, as well as a gala performance of Act IV on 9 December (both with the Met on tour in Chicago); three times as Gilda in Rigoletto; once as Violetta in Act I of Verdi's La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
(on a double bill with Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
, in which Emma Eames
Emma Eames
Emma Eames was an American soprano renowned for the beauty of her voice. She sang major lyric and lyric-dramatic roles in opera and had an important career in New York, London and Paris during the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century.-Early life:The daughter of...
's sang Santuzza); twice as Elsa in Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
; once as Margeurite in Gounod's Faust; four times as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
; four times as Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger; and once as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer. All the operas in which she appeared were performed in Italian. As the season progressed some critics remarked on the wear and tear that was becoming evident in her voice, but praised her artistry and experience. Of her last performance at the Met on 31 March 1892 The New York Times wrote: "The Senta of Mlle. Albani was not vocally perfect, yet it had so many excellences that her hearers must have been inclined to forgive the departures from the pitch which seem to have become an inseparable accompaniment of her singing of late. She did much to atone for them by the intelligence of her work and by the dramatic earnestness with which she imbued all her singing. She earned a fair share of the honors of the evening."
Even in Albani's final season at Covent Garden in 1896, she continued to receive strongly positive reviews. The greatest triumph of her career came on 26 June 1896, when she sang Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
, with Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke, born Jan Mieczyslaw, , was a Polish tenor. Renowned internationally for the high quality of his singing and the elegance of his bearing, he became the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century....
in his first London Tristan, Louise Meisslinger as Brangäne, David Bispham
David Bispham
David Scull Bispham was the first American–born operatic baritone to win an international reputation.- Early life and family:...
as Kurwenal, Edouard de Reszke
Edouard de Reszke
Édouard de Reszke, originally Edward, was a Polish bass from Warsaw. Born with an impressive natural voice and equipped with compelling histrionic skills, he became one of the most illustrious opera singers active in Europe and America during the late-Victorian Era.-Career:Édouard de Reszke was...
as King Marke, and Luigi Mancinelli
Luigi Mancinelli
Luigi Mancinelli was a leading Italian orchestral conductor. He also composed music for the stage and concert hall and played the cello....
conducting. There were a total of four performances, all of which sold out despite the higher than normal ticket prices, and the opera was sung in German. On 24 July she sang Valentine in Les Huguenots. There had been no announcement, and few people would have realized, it was the last time they were to hear her in opera. Her career at Covent Garden had lasted for twenty-four years.
Post Covent Garden
Marie Novello
Marie Novello was a Welsh pianist. She was one of Theodor Leschetizky's last students and performed in public from childhood. Her early death from throat cancer cut short a promising career just as she began to record for one of the major English labels, having already amassed a considerable...
, who two years later would become one of Theodor Leschetizky's last students, and John McCormack, who only months before had made his own Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
debut. Albani gave her last public performance on 14 October 1911. That same year she released a book, Forty Years of Song. The book was effectively a memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
, recounting stories of her youth, travels and career, and impressions of fellow performers and the royalty she met over her life, as well as providing some useful advice on singing.
She and her husband retired to Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
. Poor investments resulted in the loss of much of their wealth, and Albani was forced to give musical lessons to earn income. Her husband died in 1925, compounding the situation, but benefit concerts arranged by friends provided sufficient income for Albani. She died in London on 3 April 1930.
Honours and legacy
Albani received the gold medal of the Royal Philharmonic SocietyRoyal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
in 1897, often known as the "Beethoven Medal".
Madame Selitsky, the prima donna who performs in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
(1908) was inspired by Albani. Montgomery later wrote a profile of the singer for Courageous Women (1934), a non-fiction work.
In 1925, Albani was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
.
The Canadian Commission for landmarks and historic monuments mounted a plaque at her birthplace in 1939, which was replaced with a stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
in 1977.
Several streets and places have been named after her in her native Quebec. Two streets in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
have thus been named. The first was dedicated in 1912, but was later removed when the road was merged with another street. The second, avenue Albani was so named in 1969.
Canada Post
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
commissioned a postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
honoring her on the 50th anniversary of her death. The stamp was designed by artist Huntley Brown and released on 4 July 1980. 11,700,000 stamps were printed.
She is depicted in a stained-glass mural in the Place-des-Arts metro station in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Further reading
- Emma Albani, Forty Years of Song (London, Mills and Boon, 1911).
- Brian BusbyBrian BusbyBrian John Busby is a Canadian literary historian and anthologist. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, he attended John Abbott College and Concordia University...
, Character Parts: Who's Really Who in CanLit (Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2004). ISBN 0-676-97579-8 - Cheryl MacDonald, Emma Albani: Victorian Diva (Toronto, Dundurn, 1984). ISBN 0-919670-75-X, ISBN 0-919670-74-1
- Stephen Willis, "Archives of Emma Albani at the National Library of Canada", National Library News, Vol. 25, no. 12 (December 1993).