Description

ALICE NIELSEN (NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, JUNE 7, 1872 – NEW YORK, N.Y., MARCH 8, 1943)

 

 

 

 

She came from a Danish-Irish family and, as a child, sang in a church choir in Kansas City. During a tour with a church concert company, the company went bankrupt while performing in St. Joseph, Missouri. To finance her trip home, she performed at the Eden Musée. In 1892, she married organist Benjamin Nentwig from Kansas City when she was very young.

In 1893, she made her stage debut with the Burton Opera Company as Yum-Yum in the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Mikado. After brief study with Max Dessi, she participated in the world premiere of Victor Herbert’s operetta The Fortune Teller in New York in 1898, and appeared in its London premiere in 1901. She also performed in Herbert’s The Singing Girl.

In 1901, while performing in London at the Shaftesbury Theatre, impresario Henry Russell encouraged her to focus on opera singing. After further studies in Rome, she made her opera debut in 1903 at the Teatro Bellini in Naples as Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust. In 1904, she achieved great success as Violetta in La Traviata at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. That same year, she made guest appearances at Covent Garden in London, performing as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and as Mimi in La Bohème, with Enrico Caruso as Rodolfo.

In 1905, she was praised for her portrayal of Norina in Don Pasquale at the Casino Theatre in New York. She toured America in 1908 with the San Carlo Opera Company. From 1909 to 1913, she was the celebrated prima donna of the Boston Opera while also performing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she debuted as Mimi in La Bohème, followed by Norina in Don Pasquale and Nedda in Pagliacci. At the Boston Opera, she took part in the premiere of Frederick Converse’s The Sacrifice on March 3, 1911.

In 1917, she made her final appearance at the Casino Theatre in New York in the operetta Kitty Darling by Friml. Afterward, she retired from the stage and lived as a teacher in New York.

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Bohème (Puccini) Addio Columbia S5007 30596
2. Don Giovanni (Mozart) Batti, batti Columbia A5249 30583
3. Faust (Gounod) Dammi ancor (w. Constantino) Victor 74076 C4552
4. Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) Verranno a te (w. Constantino) Victor 74064 C4550
5. Madama Butterfly (Puccini) Ancora un passo Columbia A5250 30593
6. Madama Butterfly (Puccini) Un bel dì Columbia A5250 30595
7. Mefistofele (Boito) L’altra notte Columbia A5248 30597
8. Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) Deh vieni Columbia A5249 30586
9. Rigoletto (Verdi) E il sol dell’anima (w. Constantino) G&T 054164 A 4547
10. Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) Ah, ne fuis pas encore (w. Constantino) Victor 64091 B6136
11. Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) Ange adorable (w. Constantino) Victor 74108 C6135
12. Traviata (Verdi) Addio del passato Victor 64068 C4537
13. Traviata (Verdi) Parigi o cara (w. Constantino) Columbia 74075 C4551
14. Il bacio (Arditi) Columbia S5007 30592
15. Barney O’Hea (Lover) Columbia A5711 37206
16. Bendemeer’s stream (Gatty) Columbia A5670 37178
17. By the Waters of Minnetonka (Lieurance) Columbia A1732 39874
18. Darling Nelly Gray (hanby) Columbia A1143 19735
19. From the Land of the sky-blue Waters (Cadman) Columbia A1732 39875
20. Love’s old sweet song (Molloy) Columbia A5670 37174