Description

MARION NEVADA TALLEY (NEVADA, MISSOURI, USA ECEMBER 20, 1906 – BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA JANUARY 3, 1983)

 

 

 

 

She was a musical prodigy and she began singing at the age of five. She was only 15, when settled in Kansas City. She showed an amazing talent in piano and violin playing. Then she studied with Frank La Forge in New York, where she also gave her first concerts. After additional education in Europe she made her debut in 1926 – only 19 years old – at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Gilda in “Rigoletto” (opposite Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and Giuseppe de Luca). She had a sensational success. Both the critics and the audience enthusiastically celebrated them. A special train was used from her hometown Kansas City to New York. The following three seasons she remained a member of the Metropolitan Opera. There she sang in 1926 in the premiere of “Le Rossignol” by I. Stravinsky. At the Metropolitan Opera her repertoire included the Queen of the Night in “Zauberflöte”, Lucia di Lammermoor, the Olympia in ‘’Les contes d’Hoffmann’’, the Philine in “Mignon” and the Queen of Shemakan in N. Rimsky-Korsakov ‘s ‘’The Golden Cockerel’’. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera until 1929. A triumphant North American tour in 1928 marked the peak of her career, which ended as quickly as it had begun. In 1929 she retired to her farm and did not appear again until 1933. In 1933 she appeared as Gilda at the Chicago Opera, but without success. In 1934 she tried Vitaphone sound film, later she became a radio singer. In 1939, encouraged by successes on American radio, she reappeared at the concert hall, but remained without any major successes, whereupon she withdrew from musical life. Then she lived in Hollywood. She was briefly married the pianist and accompanist Michael Raucheisen (1889-1983).

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Comin’ thro’ the rye (trad) Victrola 1146 BVE34522-3 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-02-02
2. Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach) Les oiseaux dans la charmille DB1142 HMV, 1927-08-16
3. In the garden (Miles) 1171 BVE35800-13 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-07-20
4. Mignon (Thomas) Je suis Titania DB1142 HMV, 1927-08-16
5. No night there (Danks) 1171 BVE35801-4 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-07-07
6. Sonnambula (Bellini) Ah, non credea mirarti 6736 CVE39578-6 Victor, Camden NJ 1927-08-22
7. Sonnambula (Bellini) Ah, non giunge 6736 CVE39579-5 Victor, Camden NJ 1927-08-22
8. Mother’s prayers have followed me (Ackley) 1340 BVE45145-1 Victor, Camden NJ 1928-05-16
9. Yield not to temptation (Palmer) 1475 BVE62459-2 Victor, Camden NJ 1930-05-28
10. When I was seventeen (Liljebjörn) 1156 BVE35401-4 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-04-14
11. The old rugged cross (Bennard) 1340 BVE45146-2 Victor, Camden NJ 1928-05-16
12. I need Thee every hour (Lowry) 1475 BVE62458-3 Victor, Camden NJ 1930-05-28
13. Home, sweet home (Bishop) 1146 BVE34505-6 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-02-02
14. The Wren (La capinera) (Benedict) 1156 BVE35402-2 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-04-14
15. God will take care of you (Martin) 1248 BVE38006-7 Victor, Camden NJ 1927-05-04
16. Beautiful isle of somewhere (Fearis) 1248 BVE37899-7 Victor, Camden NJ 1927-05-04
17. Swiss Echo song (Eckert) Victor 6593 CVE35815-3 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-07-20
18. How beautiful upon the mountains (Harker) 6919 CVE43608-1 Victor, Camden NJ 1928-04-04
19. Lo, here the gentle lark (Bishop) 6593 CVE35806-4 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-07-13
20. Rigoletto (Verdi) Caro nome 6580 CVE34504-3 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-02-02
21. Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) Una voce poco fa 6580 CVE34503-5 Victor, Camden NJ 1926-02-02