Identifier: grandoperasinger02lahe (find matches)
Title: The grand opera singers of to-day : an account of the leading operatic stars who have sung during recent years, together with a sketch of the chief operatic enterprises
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors: Lahee, Henry Charles, 1856-1953
Subjects: Singers Opera
Publisher: Boston : L. C. Page
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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donna of her intwelve months. It is related that during herstudies Madame Melba heard her and remarkedto Marchesi that it was a pity her new pupilhad no voice to train. Notwithstanding thatopinion she appeared less than a year later (in1904) at the Opera Comique, where she re-mained for a season singing lyric soprano roles. From Paris she went to Brussels where shecreated the leading part in an opera foundedon the Sleeping Beauty, and sang manyother parts, notably Marguerite in La Dam-nation de Faust. The critics were charmedwith her voice and her beauty of face and figure. After her success in Brussels she acceptedan engagement at Parma, though attemptswere made to dissuade her. This engagementproved to be a stepping-stone to Milan, whereshe appeared as the heroine of Charpentiers Louise, under the management of SignorGatti-Casazza. Thence she went to CoventGarden, and then to Buenos Ayres previous tocoming to the Metropolitan Opera-House. It is said that in 1906 she was engaged for
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BELLA ALTEN AS NEDDA IN IL PAGLIACCI The Metropolitan Opera-House 277 the Manhattan Opera-House, but she neversang there. Perhaps there is some trnth in thestory that an all powerful prima donna of thathouse, on hearing of this engagement, cabled abrief but emphatic message to Oscar Hammer-stein, and caused him to change his mind. During her career at the Metropolitan Opera-House her best success was made as Desde-mona when Slezak sang Otello. In this role itwas said: She makes a beautifully patheticand affecting little figure alongside the toweringSlezak, and her acting has an extremely deli-cate and wistful beauty. She sang with a pureand limpid beauty of voice, giving much varietyof expression to the Willow song and de-vout feeling to the l Ave Maria. She hasalso been mentioned as tl the most brilliant, themost picturesque and most charming Manon onthe opera stage. Bella Alten has made herself popular in NewYork in such roles as Musetta in La Bo-heme, Nedda in II Pagliacci, Columbi

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