| Birth: | Nov. 1, 1847
Chambly
Quebec, Canada | | Death: | Jun. 16, 1930
London
Greater London, England | 
Opera Singer. A soprano of wide repertoire, she sang the works of composers ranging from Mozart and Rossini to Wagner. Born Marie-Louise-Emma-Cecile Lajeunesse into a musical family, she was raised from a toddler in Plattsburgh, New York, but returned to Montreal following her mother's 1856 death. Emma studied at the Sacred Heart Convent where her father was music master, and on August 24, 1860, partnered with Dame Adelina Patti in a performance of Charles Sabatier's "Cantata", but in her teens she relocated to Albany, New York, to get more training, as the theatre was not considered a proper vocation for a French-Canadian girl at that time. Desiring more advanced education, Emma studied at the Paris Conservatory with Gilbert-Louis Duprez, then moved-on to Italy where she took her stage name, choosing it partly partly because it sounded more 'European', as well as to honour the city of Albany. Her operatic debut came at Messina on March 30, 1870 as Amina in Vincenzo Bellini's "La Sonnambula"; following an audition with impresario Frederick Gye, whose son she was to marry, she bowed on April 2, 1872, at Covent Garden, London, again as Amina. Until 1896, she was to be the house's reigning prima donna, singing 40 roles from 43 operas there and elsewhere, including Ophelia in Ambrose Thomas' "Hamlet", The Countess from Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", Gilda in Verdi's "Rigoletto", Violetta from the same composer's "La Traviata", Rosina in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", the title leads of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor", Thomas' "Mignon", and Charles Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette", and several Wagnerian portrayals including Elsa in "Lohengerin", Elisabeth from "Tannhauser", and Isolde of "Tristan und Isolde". Seen throughout Europe, she made her first American tour in 1874, bowing at Chicago as Elvira from Bellini's "I puritani", then being heard in both opera and recital at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Albany, and Washington; that same year, she gave her first private concert for Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle. Kept busy at the various English festivals, she earned renown in oratorio, singing Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise", Handel's "Theodora", and other works, and being congratulated for an 1886 performance of Franz Liszt's "The Legend of St. Elisabeth" by the great maestro himself. After singing three concerts at Queen's Hall, Montreal, Emma made her Canadian operatic debut at Toronto on February 12, 1883, as Lucia; her Metropolitan Opera, New York, bow on November 23, 1891, was as Valentine in Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots". After leaving Covent Garden in 1896, Emma toured Canada, sang at Queen Victoria's 1901 funeral, and retired following an October 14, 1911, performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London. She settled with her husband in Kensington, but due to poor investments their final years were difficult, with Emma reduced to accepting charity, teaching, and even singing in music halls; England finally granted a pension in 1920, though both Canada and Quebec Province declined to contribute. She was widowed in 1925. Dame Emma's honours were many: 1882 designation as Hofkammersangerin by Kaiser Wilhelm I after he heard her sing Elsa (in German, which she had learned for the performance), the "Beethoven Medal" from the Royal Philharmonic Society in 1897, and creation as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by King George V in 1925; a Canadian postage stamp commemorated the 50th. anniversary of her death in 1980, and today two Montreal streets carry her name, while she is depicted in a stained glass window at Montreal's Place-des-Arts Metro Station. Her recorded legacy was small, and was created when her best years were behind her; a portion of it has been preserved, and remains valuable as a historical document. Acknowledging that Dame Emma would be neither the first nor the last theatrical lady to lie about her age, and that baptismal dates were occasionally confused with birthdays, controversy concerning her date of birth remains: her tombstone reads "November 1, 1850", while her 1911 autobiography, "Forty Years of Singing", says "November 1, 1852". "Grove's Dictionary" gives the date listed above, which fits better into the timeline of the 1860 concert with Patti. (bio by: Bob Hufford)
Search Amazon for Dame Emma Albani | | | Burial:
Brompton Cemetery
West Brompton
Greater London, England |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Bob Hufford
Record added: Jun 25, 2010
Find A Grave Memorial# 54124755 |
|
|
|
Do you have a photo to add? Click here |
(3.8 after 21 votes)
