Opera Singer. She trained in New York and Italy, where she met her future husband, the tenor Salvatori De Pasquali. She made her debut in Milan (1900) as Gilda in "Rigoletto." In America, she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera House in "Traviata" (1908), with 26 curtain calls; eventually she would appear in 15 different roles at the Met including Carmen, La Boheme, etc. She was said to have a repertoire of 54 operas, any one of which could be sung at a few hours notice. She sang for the Prince of Wales in Quebec in 1908, and her appearance at the 1916 Pan American Exposition in San Diego was said to have "...left her audience gasping." Aside from her accomplishments as a coloratura soprano, she was also considered a world-class pianist. She was, she often returned to the small seaside town of her birth and on Christmas Eve would sing "Silent Night" in front of the Public Library. Later her husband formed an opera company with his wife as the star and principal singer. After his sudden death from a stroke in 1923, Bernice continued to tour on her own. While working the Orpheum vaudville circuit in Omaha, Nebraska, she developed double pneumonia and died there 2 weeks later. She and her husband are buried in the James' family plot on a gentle hillside which faces Hingham Bay.
Opera Singer. She trained in New York and Italy, where she met her future husband, the tenor Salvatori De Pasquali. She made her debut in Milan (1900) as Gilda in "Rigoletto." In America, she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera House in "Traviata" (1908), with 26 curtain calls; eventually she would appear in 15 different roles at the Met including Carmen, La Boheme, etc. She was said to have a repertoire of 54 operas, any one of which could be sung at a few hours notice. She sang for the Prince of Wales in Quebec in 1908, and her appearance at the 1916 Pan American Exposition in San Diego was said to have "...left her audience gasping." Aside from her accomplishments as a coloratura soprano, she was also considered a world-class pianist. She was, she often returned to the small seaside town of her birth and on Christmas Eve would sing "Silent Night" in front of the Public Library. Later her husband formed an opera company with his wife as the star and principal singer. After his sudden death from a stroke in 1923, Bernice continued to tour on her own. While working the Orpheum vaudville circuit in Omaha, Nebraska, she developed double pneumonia and died there 2 weeks later. She and her husband are buried in the James' family plot on a gentle hillside which faces Hingham Bay.
Bio by: MP
Family Members
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See more De Pasquali or James memorials in:
- Hull Village Cemetery De Pasquali or James
- Hull De Pasquali or James
- Plymouth County De Pasquali or James
- Massachusetts De Pasquali or James
- USA De Pasquali or James
- Find a Grave De Pasquali or James
Records on Ancestry
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