Lillian Blauvelt
Encyclopedia
Lillian Blauvelt was a popular opera singer in New York City
, USA in the first decade of the 20th century. Her voice was a lyric soprano
with
a very pure timbre and dramatic distinction. Her vocal range was from G to D. She was from Brooklyn, New York and eventually toured every country in Europe
.
. Blauvelt sang in concerts in New York City and Brooklyn
prior to becoming the soprano of the West Presbyterian Church, 42nd Street
between Fifth Avenue
and Sixth Avenue
, in 1893.
In January 1893 she sang the air (music)
for Aida
, from Act I and the duet for Aida and Amneria from Act II, with Mrs. Luckstone-Myers, a contralto
. The Sunday concert was held at Music Hall.
She performed with the New York Symphony at Carnegie Hall
. In the ninth season of Symphony Concerts for Young People,1904, the program was devoted to works by Bizet, Gounod, Verdi, and Richard Wagner
. Blauvelt and Edward P. Johnson were soloists with the orchestra conducted by Frank Damrosch
.
She sang before an audience numbering 3,000 at the Asbury Park, New Jersey
Casino in July 1904. The following month Alice Roosevelt Longworth
attended a concert given by the Bar Harbor, Maine
Choral Society, during which Blauvelt sang. She replaced Ella Russell in a solo quartet at a Christmas 1904 performance of The Messiah. It was presented by the Oratorio Society at Carnegie Hall.
In 1905 Blauvelt signed a six year contract with Fred Whitney to appear in comic opera
. She reportedly received $504,000 for her services or $2,000 per week. Her first venture after the pact was made was a production of The Rose of Alhambra, written by Charles Emerson Cook and Lucius Hosmer. Cook was a close affiilliate of David Belasco
.
She was a soloist for a February 1905 New York Symphony Concert given at Alexander Hall on the campus of Princeton University
. She sang Una Voce Poco Fa by Rossini. Five first violins were added to the orchestra to restrain the brass effect. The same year she sang in a production of Stabat Mater
. The music was written by Antonín Dvořák
in 1876. Her solo was part of a tribute to Dvorak held at Carnegie Hall on March 14. The composer died in 1904. Stabat Mater is the most popular of his choral works outside of his native Czechoslovakia
. Blauvelt was chosen to sing the soprano portion of a Verdi composition at a memorial concert to the composer held in Rome, Italy, in 1905.
She appeared at the Lyceum Theatre in Rochester, New York
, in November 1905, for the first production of The Rose of the Alhambra. The comic opera was written by Charles Emerson Cook and directed by F. C. Whitney. It was her first work in light opera after working for years in grand opera
. Blauvelt received encores until she was compelled to refuse further acknowledgements. In 1906, she starred in Victor Herbert
's The Magic Knight
.
In December 1912 she returned from Europe and performed in a solo quartet in The Messiah at the Aeolian Hall
. This marked her first participation in a New York City concert for a number of years. A review said that her superb voice and style had changed very little. However, by rushing
the air in Rejoice Greatly, she diminished its importance to the audience.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, USA in the first decade of the 20th century. Her voice was a lyric soprano
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...
with
a very pure timbre and dramatic distinction. Her vocal range was from G to D. She was from Brooklyn, New York and eventually toured every country in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Opera Diva
She was a graduate of the National Conservatory of MusicNational Conservatory of Music
National Conservatory of Music may refer to:* CNSM de Lyon, in Lyon, France* National Conservatory of Music * National Conservatory of Music of America, a school founded by Jeannette Thurber in New York City in 1885...
. Blauvelt sang in concerts in New York City and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
prior to becoming the soprano of the West Presbyterian Church, 42nd Street
42nd Street (Manhattan)
42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection...
between Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)
Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The section of Fifth Avenue that crosses Midtown Manhattan, especially that between 49th Street and 60th Street, is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among...
and Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
, in 1893.
In January 1893 she sang the air (music)
Air (music)
Air , a variant of the musical song form, is the name of various song-like vocal or instrumental compositions.-English lute ayres:...
for Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, from Act I and the duet for Aida and Amneria from Act II, with Mrs. Luckstone-Myers, a contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
. The Sunday concert was held at Music Hall.
She performed with the New York Symphony at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. In the ninth season of Symphony Concerts for Young People,1904, the program was devoted to works by Bizet, Gounod, Verdi, and Richard 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...
. Blauvelt and Edward P. Johnson were soloists with the orchestra conducted by Frank Damrosch
Frank Damrosch
Frank Heino Damrosch was a German-born American music conductor and educator.-Biography:He was born on June 22, 1859 in Breslau, and came to the United States with his father, Leopold Damrosch, and brother, Walter Damrosch in 1871. He had studied music in Germany under Dionys Pruckner. He studied...
.
She sang before an audience numbering 3,000 at the Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, located on the Jersey Shore and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 16,116. The city is known for its rich musical history, including its association with...
Casino in July 1904. The following month Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth was the oldest child of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. She was the only child of Roosevelt and his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee....
attended a concert given by the Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population is 5,235. Bar Harbor is a famous summer colony in the Down East region of Maine. It is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory and Mount Desert Island...
Choral Society, during which Blauvelt sang. She replaced Ella Russell in a solo quartet at a Christmas 1904 performance of The Messiah. It was presented by the Oratorio Society at Carnegie Hall.
In 1905 Blauvelt signed a six year contract with Fred Whitney to appear in comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
. She reportedly received $504,000 for her services or $2,000 per week. Her first venture after the pact was made was a production of The Rose of Alhambra, written by Charles Emerson Cook and Lucius Hosmer. Cook was a close affiilliate of David Belasco
David Belasco
David Belasco was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright.-Biography:Born in San Francisco, California, where his Sephardic Jewish parents had moved from London, England, during the Gold Rush, he began working in a San Francisco theatre doing a variety of routine jobs,...
.
She was a soloist for a February 1905 New York Symphony Concert given at Alexander Hall on the campus of Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. She sang Una Voce Poco Fa by Rossini. Five first violins were added to the orchestra to restrain the brass effect. The same year she sang in a production of Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
. The music was written by Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
in 1876. Her solo was part of a tribute to Dvorak held at Carnegie Hall on March 14. The composer died in 1904. Stabat Mater is the most popular of his choral works outside of his native Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. Blauvelt was chosen to sing the soprano portion of a Verdi composition at a memorial concert to the composer held in Rome, Italy, in 1905.
She appeared at the Lyceum Theatre in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, in November 1905, for the first production of The Rose of the Alhambra. The comic opera was written by Charles Emerson Cook and directed by F. C. Whitney. It was her first work in light opera after working for years in grand opera
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
. Blauvelt received encores until she was compelled to refuse further acknowledgements. In 1906, she starred in Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
's The Magic Knight
The Magic Knight
The Magic Knight is a one-act musical burlesque with music by Victor Herbert and a libretto by Edgar Smith. The piece parodies the Richard Wagner opera Lohengrin....
.
In December 1912 she returned from Europe and performed in a solo quartet in The Messiah at the Aeolian Hall
Aeolian Hall (New York)
Aeolian Hall was a concert hall near Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City located on the third floor of 29-33 West 42nd Street across the street from Bryant Park. The Aeolian Building was built in 1912 for the Aeolian Company, which manufactured pianos...
. This marked her first participation in a New York City concert for a number of years. A review said that her superb voice and style had changed very little. However, by rushing
the air in Rejoice Greatly, she diminished its importance to the audience.
Marriages
Blauvelt was married a number of times. Her first husband was Royal S. Smith, a Brooklyn organist. By 1907 she was married to William F. Pendleton. On June 30, 1910 she wed Dr. Walter Carpenter in Brooklyn.External links
- Lillian Blauvelt New York Public LibraryNew York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
Digital Gallery photos - Lillian Blauvelt photo at North Country Digital History
- Lillian Blauvelt on the cover of Springfield, New YorkSpringfield, New YorkSpringfield is a town in Otsego County, New York, USA. The population was 1,350 at the 2000 census.The Town of Springfield is located at the northern county line of Otsego County and is approximately west of Schenectady.- History :...
Music Festival program from 1901