Description

MARY SYBIL KIDD MAYNARD LEWIS (LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, JANUARY 7, 1900 – NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S., DECEMBER 31, 1941)

She lost her parents early and was brought up with the utmost strictness by her foster parents, a Methodist preacher and his wife. At the age of 18, she left home and joined a vaudeville company. She later sang in cabarets in San Francisco and was one of the Bathing Beauties of the Christie Comedies in the city. Subsequently, she appeared in operettas and revues in New York, including as a prima donna at the Greenwich Village Follies, a revue theater.

Eventually, she began studying serious singing with William Thorner in New York and Jean de Reszke in Paris. In 1923, she made her opera debut at the Vienna Volksoper as Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust. From 1924 to 1925, she was a member of the British National Opera Company, where she performed as Mary in the world premiere of Vaughan Williams’s opera Hugh the Drover on July 14, 1924, at His Majesty’s Theatre in London.

In 1925, she appeared at the Opéra-Comique in Paris as Manon and Thaïs in the operas of the same names by Massenet. From 1926 to 1930, she sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, making her debut as Mimi in La Bohème. She also appeared as Nedda in Pagliacci, Micaëla in Carmen, Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust, and Giulietta in The Tales of Hoffmann. In 1927, she performed at the Ravinia Festival as Mimi.

She also sang in Berlin, collaborating with bass-baritone Michael Bohnen (1887–1965), to whom she was briefly married. Despite hopes for a significant career in the emerging talkies, her film career did not materialize as expected.

She published her memoirs under the title Mary Lewis: An American Girl in Grand Opera.

TRACKLIST

1. Dixie (Emmett) 1345 BVE42565-2 Victor, New York 1928-03-26
2. From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water (Cadman) 1140 BVE34250-6 Victor, New York 1926-01-04
3. Little grey Home in the West (Löhr) 1140 BVE34249-7 Victor, New York 1926-01-04
4. Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Qual fiamma… Che volo d’augeli 6578 CVE34161-9 Victor, New York 1926-01-20
5. Thaïs (Massenet) Dis-moi que suis belle DB810 Cc5552-1 HMV, London 1925-01-07
6. Thaïs (Massenet) Te souvient-il du lumineux voyage 6578 CVE34255-1 Victor, New York 1926-01-04
7. The Old Folks at Home (Foster) 1345 BVE40007-3 Victor, New York 1927-09-12