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HENRIETTA BEEBE (2 December 1844 NY-5 September 1920 NY) American Soprano CONCERT & ORATORIO At the age of 14 she was a successful Choir singer and sang in some of the most important choirs in New York City.At aged 16 she sang Haydn's Creation at the Cooper Institute under the direction of Prof Charles Guilmette who became her first teacher .She made a concert debut in NY 4/1/1867 and was very well recieved . Later in 1867 she went to Milan to study with Perini and perfect herself in the italian method of singing.In 1881 she went to London for one year and studied with Julius Benedict , In 1886 she married the tenor William H Lawton . She visited Europe four times . She was later engaged at the National Conservatory of Music New York as a teacher of singing

Antonio Scotti as Don Giovanni "Don Giovanni" Mozart ANTONIO SCOTTI (25 January 1866 – 26 February 1936) Italian Baritone Antonio Scotti was born in Naples, Italy. His family wanted him to enter the priesthood but he embarked instead on a career in opera. He received his early vocal training from Esther Trifari-Paganini and Vincenzo Lombardi. According to most sources, he made his debut at Malta's Theatre Royal in 1889, performing the role of Amonasro in Giuseppe Verdi's Aida. Engagements at various Italian operatic venues ensued and he later gained valuable stage experience singing in Spain, Portugal, Russia and South America. In 1898, he debuted at Italy's most renowned opera house, La Scala, Milan, as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger. This now seems a surprising choice of role for Scotti because his subsequent career did not encompass the operas of Richard Wagner. Scotti's American debut took place in the fall (autumn) of 1899, when he sang in Chicago. On 27 December 1899 he made his first appearance in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera, undertaking the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni. He would become an audience favorite at the Met, earning acclaim for his graceful singing of Donizetti's bel canto music as well as for the touch of elegance that he brought to his more forceful Verdi and verismo interpretations. Scotti appeared at Covent Garden in London for the first time in 1899, singing Don Giovanni. He would return to London on many occasions prior to World War I. At the Met in 1901, Scotti became the first artist to sing the role of Baron Scarpia in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca in America. He appeared, too, in the American premieres of Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's Le donne curiose, Umberto Giordano's Fedora, Franco Leoni's L'Oracolo and Isidore de Lara's Messaline. Scotti also sang a variety of mainstream baritone parts during his time at the Met, including Rigoletto, Malatesta, Belcore, Iago, Falstaff, Marcello, Sharpless and, as we have seen, Don Giovanni and Scarpia. He performed opposite his close friend Enrico Caruso when the illustrious tenor made his Met debut as the Duke of Mantua in 1903, and partnered 15 different Toscas over the course of his long career at the house. In 1912, Scotti's arrival in the United States with Pasquale Amato and William Hinshaw for his next Met season received extensive newspaper coverage He performed at Covent Garden on a regular basis until 1910, with additional appearances in the 1913–1914 season. During this period, he became not only London's first Scarpia but also its first Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly (in 1900 and 1905 respectively). In 1917, he was elected an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the American fraternity for male musicians, at the New England Conservatory of Music. He formed his own troupe of singers in 1919, calling it, naturally enough, the Scotti Opera Company. He managed it for several seasons while touring the United States. Scotti celebrated his 25th anniversary with the Met on 1 January 1924 in a gala performance of Tosca. By the 1930s, Scotti's voice had declined considerably but he retained his place on the Met's roster of singers due to his outstanding histrionic ability. His final Met appearance occurred on 20 January 1933, when he sang Chim-Fen in L'Oracolo; he had created the role in 1905. Scotti returned to Italy to spend his retirement. He died in poverty in Naples in 1936, aged 70

MARIE ROZE (born Maria Hippolyte Ponsin), (2 March 1846, Paris – 2 June 1926, Paris), French soprano. as Helen "Mefistofele" by Boito Debut at the Opéra-Comique 1865 . Her success there led to engagements with the Paris Opéra, and later in London. From 1876 she worked with the Carl Rosa Opera Company during their UK tours and in Scotland over a ten-year period sang roles ranging from Carmen and Manon to Marguerite] In 1877, she was engaged by the Max Strakosch Opera Company and made her American debut on 8 January 1878 in Philadelphia as Leonora in Donizetti's La favorita. She later toured the United States with the Carl Rosa Opera Company from 1883 to 1889 and was particularly noted for her interpretation of the title role Bizet's Carmen. In 1890, she taught singing in Paris and made her farewell tour in 1894.

CHARLES SANTLEY British Baritone (28 February 1834 – 22 September 1922) was an English-born opera and oratorio . He was a Choirboy and then appeared as an amateur singer, but finally decided to train his voice. He graduated in 1855, first at Gaetano Nava in Milan, then in Manuel Garcia in London. In 1857 he was heard in London for the first time as a soloist in the "creation" of J.Haydn. He debuted on stage in 1857 at the Municipal Theatre of Pavia as Dr. Grenvil in "La Traviata". Guest performances at leading theaters in Italy, England and France brachtem his first successes. He appeared especially at the Grand Opera of Paris and London at the Covent Garden Opera. He appeared in 1859 as Hoël in the English premiere of the opera "Dinorah" by Meyerbeer (with Mme Miolan-Carvalho as a partner), on 23.02.1860 in the world premiere of the opera "Lurline" by Vincent Wallace, on 11/30/1861 in the of "The Puritan's Daughter" by Michael Balfe, on 08/02/1862 in "The Lily of Killarney" by Julius Benedict (in the role of Danny Man). In 1863 he sang at Her Majesty's Theatre in London in the British premiere of Gounod's "Faust" in the presence of the composer Valentin. After this performance, Gounod composed for him the prayer of Valentin "Avant de quitter ces lieux" that is not found in the original score of the opera and is still not sung in Paris. In 1864 he participated in the British premieres of the operas "Mireille" by Gounod and "The Merry Weibner of Windsor" by Nicolai (in Italian) at the same theater. In 1870 he sang at Drury Lane Theatre in London, the title character in the British premiere of Wagner's "Flying Dutchman" (also still in Italian). In the years 1871 and 1891 he undertook glorious North American tours. In the 1875-76 season he was heard at the Carl Rosa Opera Company. He also made guest appearances at La Scala and the Teatro Liceo Barcelona. Until 1900, he regularly appeared on the stage, but gave up after that concert. He was considered the most significant English oratorio singers of his generation; his interpretation of the title role in "Elijah" by Mendelssohn was classified as completely incomparable. Since 1858 he sang at the Leeds Festival, since 1861 the Birmingham Festival, from 1863 to 1906 at each Three Choirs Festival, since 1862 also in the Handel Festival in London. In 1890 he toured Australia and New Zealand, 1893 and 1903, South Africa. In 1907, he was (to his 50th jubilee singers) knighted by King Edward VII. Than "Sir Charles Santley". In 1911 he was at the Covent Garden Opera London his farewell performance in "The Waterman" of Dibdin.

EMMA EAMES (August 13, 1865 - June 13, 1952) American Soprano She attended school in Boston where she studied singing with Charles R. Adams.Later she took voice lessons in Paris with Mathilde Marchesi. Operatic debut in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Paris at Palais Garnier, in 1889. She would perform the role of Juliette many other times during the next two years, while adding other leading French-opera parts to her repertoire. As early as November 1889, She left the company in 1891, Towards the end of 1891, Eames debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in her trademark part of Juliette, and she quickly became a favourite with Met audiences. She would perform regularly at the Met in a variety of operas until 1909, Eames also made a number of successful appearances at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She sang there intermittently from 1891 to 1901 and established herself as a genuine rival to Covent Garden's reigning diva, Nellie Melba she also sang in Madrid Monte Carlo Opera during the 1890s. In 1906, Eames visited San Francisco with a touring troupe of leading Met singers.Her farewell operatic performances was during the 1911-12 seasons with the Boston opera company. She then undertook a series of concert tours of the United States

ETELKA GERSTER (25 June 1855, Košice – 20 August 1920, Pontecchio) Hungarian Soprano Studied on the recommendation of the composer Hellmesberger at the Vienna Conservatory at the famous Mathilde Marchesi de Castrone. The composer Verdi heard her in 1875 in the house of her teacher at the presentation of an aria from his opera 'La Traviata' and recommended it to the Teatro Fenice Venice. There she began her great career in 1876, by Gilda in 'Rigoletto' as recited debut role. 1876-77 had her first successes in Marseille and Genoa. 1877 she was staying with an Italian opera company in Berlin, her sister, the soprano Bertha Krause-Gerster (* 1852? April 1885 Paris), was a member at the Kroll Opera .. She married the impresario Carlo Gardini (1833-1910),In 1877 she came to London and was at Her Majesty's Theatre as Amina in Bellini's 'La Sonnambula and was' very successful, so came in the following years to Her Majesty's near the end of her career in 1890 she was at the Covent Garden Opera . In the years 1878-87 she was mainly in North America, and indeed after 1878, she sang at the Mapleson Opera Company with which they undertook extensive concert tours through the United States. In 1878 she toured with this company at the Academy of Music in New York and had in her inaugural role of Amina in 'La Sonnambula', and then the Queen of the Night in the Magic Flute . In 1889 she moved to Berlin and opened a singing school, which met with general approval, and where she taught until 1917 there. She was the teacher of Lula Mysz Gmeiner, Clara Butt and Julia Culp.. In 1918 she retired to her villa in Pontecchio near Bologna .

Henry Sellier as Sigurd "Sigurd" Reyer HENRY SELLIER (François Alfred Alexander Sellier) (26 March 1849 - 26 June 1899). As a young man of very poor ancestry he came to Paris looking for work. When he worked as an errand boy for a merchant his voice was discovered and with financial help he was able to study at the Conservatoire National de Paris. In 1876 he finished his vocal studies by winning the "Prix du Conservatoire". After that he was immediately engaged by the Grand-Opéra, where in 1878 he made his debut as Arnold in Rossini's "Guillaume Tell". Here he created the role of Manoël at the première in Gounod's "Le Tribut de Zamora" (1881) and the role of Paolo at the première of "Françoise de Rimini" by Ambroise Thomas (1882). He was widely admired for the balanced beauty of his tenor voice and the dramatic force of his performance. After a hunting accident he ended his career at the Grand-Opéra in 1888. The season 1889/90 he was engaged at Brussels at "The Théâtre de la Monnaie" , where he created the role of Mathô at the première of Ernest Reyer's opera "Salammbô". The season 1890/91 he was engaged at the Opéra of Marseille and the following years he was engaged by various French provincial theaters.

Jean de Reszke as Romeo "Romeo & Juilette " Gounod JEAN DE RESZKE (Jan Mieczyslaw RESZKE ) (14 January 1850 – 3 April 1925), Polish Tenor abandoned his legal training and went to Milan in Italy to study voice. The most acclaimed of the pedagogues consulted by the young de Reszke was Antonio Cotogni, an eminent baritone who was a favorite of Giuseppe Verdi's. In January 1874, he made his debut in Venice as Jan de Reschi (he later changed it to Jean de Reszke), undertaking the baritone part of Alfonso in a production of Donizetti's La favorite . The following April, he sang for the first time in London, performing at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and a little later in Paris, essaying an array of different baritone roles. De Reszke displayed limitations as a baritone and he withdrew from the stage to allow for a further period of study, this time with Giovanni Sbriglia in Paris. Under Sbirgilia's tutelage, his voice gained remarkably in the freedom of its upper register. Accordingly, when he made his first operatic reappearance in 1879 (in Madrid), it was as a tenor, scoring a success in the title-role of Meyerbeer's Robert le diable. Indeed, the then 29-year-old de Reszke's immense fame as a singer dates

Jean de Reszke as Romeo "Romeo & Juilette " Gounod JEAN DE RESZKE (Jan Mieczyslaw RESZKE ) (14 January 1850 – 3 April 1925), Polish Tenor abandoned his legal training and went to Milan in Italy to study voice. The most acclaimed of the pedagogues consulted by the young de Reszke was Antonio Cotogni, an eminent baritone who was a favorite of Giuseppe Verdi's. In January 1874, he made his debut in Venice as Jan de Reschi (he later changed it to Jean de Reszke), undertaking the baritone part of Alfonso in a production of Donizetti's La favorite . The following April, he sang for the first time in London, performing at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and a little later in Paris, essaying an array of different baritone roles. De Reszke displayed limitations as a baritone and he withdrew from the stage to allow for a further period of study, this time with Giovanni Sbriglia in Paris. Under Sbirgilia's tutelage, his voice gained remarkably in the freedom of its upper register. Accordingly, when he made his first operatic reappearance in 1879 (in Madrid), it was as a tenor, scoring a success in the title-role of Meyerbeer's Robert le diable. Indeed, the then 29-year-old de Reszke's immense fame as a singer dates

Jean de Reszke as Romeo "Romeo & Juilette " Gounod JEAN DE RESZKE (Jan Mieczyslaw RESZKE ) (14 January 1850 – 3 April 1925), Polish Tenor abandoned his legal training and went to Milan in Italy to study voice. The most acclaimed of the pedagogues consulted by the young de Reszke was Antonio Cotogni, an eminent baritone who was a favorite of Giuseppe Verdi's. In January 1874, he made his debut in Venice as Jan de Reschi (he later changed it to Jean de Reszke), undertaking the baritone part of Alfonso in a production of Donizetti's La favorite . The following April, he sang for the first time in London, performing at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and a little later in Paris, essaying an array of different baritone roles. De Reszke displayed limitations as a baritone and he withdrew from the stage to allow for a further period of study, this time with Giovanni Sbriglia in Paris. Under Sbirgilia's tutelage, his voice gained remarkably in the freedom of its upper register. Accordingly, when he made his first operatic reappearance in 1879 (in Madrid), it was as a tenor, scoring a success in the title-role of Meyerbeer's Robert le diable. Indeed, the then 29-year-old de Reszke's immense fame as a singer dates

Edouard de Reszke as Duc d'Alba "Patrie" CREATOR ROLE EDOUARD DE RESZKE, originally Edward, (22 December 1853 – 25 May 1917) was a Polish bass from Warsaw. His voice studies in Italy with Giovanni Sbriglia, a leading pedagogue. Initially, he did not want to become an operatic performer but at the urging of his younger sister, Josephine (Józefina), he accepted an engagement with the Paris Opéra. He was chosen by the composer Giuseppe Verdi to make his debut in the first Paris performance of Aida on 22 April 1876, appearing under the composer's baton as the King of Egypt. De Reszke's older brother was the renowned lyric-dramatic tenor Jean de Reszke (1850–1925), with whom he would sing often in Paris, London and New York City during the course of the next two decades. In 1887, for example, the brothers performed together in the 500th performance of Gounod's Faust at the Paris Opéra. Josephine, Edouard and Jean's sister, also embarked on a career as an opera singer in Paris but she retired early from the stage after marrying an aristocrat while at the height of her powers. (Another sibling, Victor de Reszke, manifested more moderate talents as a vocalist.) Between the start of 1880 and the end of 1900, Édouard de Reszke appeared on more than 300 occasions at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, performing a wide range of roles in French, German and Italian operas, including works by Wagner, Verdi, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Ponchielli, Gounod, Meyerbeer, Flotow and Mozart. He was a huge favourite, too, with audiences at New York's Metropolitan Opera during the same era. (His only serious bass rival at the Met and Covent Garden was the elegant French virtuoso Pol Plançon [1851–1914]; but the Frenchman, unlike de Reszke, barely touched Wagnerian opera.) He also sang in Chicago in 1891 and, in 1879–1881, at La Scala, Milan. In 1903, he retired from the stage after his once superlative voice developed technical difficulties and went into a swift decline. De Reszke taught singing for a while in London before returning to his estate in Poland, where he was adversely affected by the outbreak of World War I in Europe in 1914. Cut off from his brother by the fighting, he died on 25 May 1917 at a house in Garnek, near Częstochowa, Poland. His grave is to be found at Borowno Poland

Eva Dufranne as Dolores 'Patrie" EVA DUFRANE . -Belgian soprano ( Belgium, 1857 - Paris, July 1905). Debuts August 16, 1880 in LA JUIVE (Rachel). In 1881 LES HUGUENOTS (Valentine), the Prophet (Berthe), LE TRIBUT DE ZAMORA (Xaima, in 1885, Hermosa), ROBERT LE DIABLE (Alice), DON JUAN (Elvira, 1887, Anna); 1883: LE FREISCHÜTZ (Agathe), L'AFRICAINE (Selika); 1884: SAPHO (Sapho); in 1887: PATRIE! (Dolores), AIDA (Aida, , in 1895, Amneris); HENRY VIII (Catherine, 1888), LOHENGRIN (Elsa, Ortrude, 1892), DIE WALKÜRE (Brunhild, 1893; Fricka, 1894), SIGURD (Hilda, 1894; UTA, 1897), LA MONTAGNE NOIRE (Dara, 1895), LA FAVORITE (Léonore, 1896), HAMLET (Queen, 1896), LA CLOCHE DU RHINE (Liba), 1898. creator of TABARIN (Francisquine).

Valentin Duc as Karloo "Patrie" CREATOR ROLE JOSEPH VALENTIN DUC January 24, 1858 in Béziers and died on February 23, 1915 in Béziers He is buried in the old cemetery of Béziers. GUILLAUME TELL (Arnold). Sings, in 1885, LA JUIVE (Eléazar); in 1886, the HUGUENOTS (Raoul), CID (Rodrigue); in 1888, ROBERT LE DIABLE (Robert); in 1889, the Prophet (John); in 1890, AIDA (Radames), the African (Vasco), SIGURD (Sigurd); in 1891, the MAGE (Zarastra). Created A homeland! (Karloo).

Marie Gabrielle Krauss as " Sapho "' MARIE GABRIELLE KRAUSS (Vienna, 23 March 1842 - January 06, 1906) Soprano She was nicknamed "the Rachel singing". Begins on the night of the inauguration of the Palais Garnier on 05 January 1875 in both first act of LA JUIVE (Rachel). Sings DON JUAN (Anna, 1875), LES HUGUENOTS (Valentine, 1875), ROBERT LE DIABLE (Alice, 1876), du FREISCHÜTZ (Agathe, 1877), the African (Selika, 1877), FAUST (Marguerite, 1882) and SAPPHO (Sappho, 1884). Is the creator of Joan of ARC (Jeanne d'Arc), POLYEUCTE (Pauline), AIDA (Aida), Madonna (the Virgin), the tribute of ZAMORA (Hermosa), HENRY VIII (Catherine of Aragon), RIGOLETTO (Gilda) and Fatherland! (Dolores). retired in 1888.

MARIE GABRIELLE KRAUSS (Vienna, 23 March 1842 - January 06, 1906) Soprano She was nicknamed "the Rachel singing". Begins on the night of the inauguration of the Palais Garnier on 05 January 1875 in both first act of LA JUIVE (Rachel). Sings DON JUAN (Anna, 1875), LES HUGUENOTS (Valentine, 1875), ROBERT LE DIABLE (Alice, 1876), du FREISCHÜTZ (Agathe, 1877), the African (Selika, 1877), FAUST (Marguerite, 1882) and SAPPHO (Sappho, 1884). Is the creator of Joan of ARC (Jeanne d'Arc), POLYEUCTE (Pauline), AIDA (Aida), Madonna (the Virgin), the tribute of ZAMORA (Hermosa), HENRY VIII (Catherine of Aragon), RIGOLETTO (Gilda) and Fatherland! (Dolores). retired in 1888.

WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) English Composer /Actor

Lucienne Breval as Selika 'L"Africane" Meyerbeer (DEBUT ROLE) LUCIENNE BREVAL (Bertha Agnès Lisette Schilling) (4 November 1869, Zürich- 15 August 1935, Neuilly-sur-Seine) Swiss Soprano She studied voice with Victor Warot at the Paris Conservatoire before making her debut at the Opéra National de Paris in 1892 as Selika in l'Africaine by Giacomo Meyerbeer .Bréval became a principal soprano at the Paris Opéra and remained there until 1919.[3] Her roles with the company included several world premières including Augusta Holmès's La Montagne Noire (1895), Camille Erlanger's Le fils de l' étoile' (1904), Dukas’ Ariane et Barbe-bleue (1907), Massenet's Bacchus (1909), and the title roles in Massenet's Ariane (1906) and Henry Février’s Monna Vanna (1909). She also was Kundry in France's first performance of Wagner's Parsifal (1914). Her other notable roles at the Paris Opera included Brünnhilde in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre (1893), Venus in Wagner's Tannhäuser (1895), Marguerite in Hector Berlioz's La damnation de Faust (1897), and the title role in Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie (1908). Bréval also occasionally appeared in productions at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Most notably she portrayed the title role in the world premiere of Massenet’s Grisélidis in 1901, and in 1910 she sang Lady Macbeth in the première of Ernst Bloch’s Macbeth, which he dedicated to her. In 1899, Bréval made her first appearance at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden as Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. Two years later she made her American début at the Metropolitan Opera as Chimène in Le Cid, singing also in Die Walküre and the American première of Ernest Reyer’s Salammbô. Five years later she returned to Covent Garden for the second and last time in the title role of Gluck’s Armide. In 1913 she created the title role in Fauré’s Pénélope at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo; her other title roles there had been in Isidore De Lara's Amy Robsart and in Bizet's Carmen

Lucienne Breval as Eva & Leon Gressi as Pogner 'Maitres Chantuers" Wagner LEON PIERRE NAPOLEON GRESSI Charolles, July 22, 1845 - 78.Marly-le-Roi, April 13, 1900). French Bass Debut October 20, 1875 in HAMLET (a gravedigger). Sings the HUGUENOTS (Saint-Bris, 1875;) Marcel, 1885), GUILLAUME TELL (Gessler, 1876; Walther, 1885); then, in 1885, the FAVORITE (Balthazar), Jewish (Brogni); in 1886, RIGOLETTO (Sparafucile), ROBERT LE DIABLE (Bertram), the African (don Pedro), LE CID (don Diegue); in 1887, AIDA (Ramfis), the Prophet (Zaccharie); then HAMLET (King, 1888), SAMSON ET DALILA (old Hebrew man, 1893), ROMEO and Juliet (brother Laurent, 1894). A created SIGURD (Hagen), die WALKÜRE (Hounding), OTHELLO (Ludovic), the MONTAGNE NOIRE (father Saval), the MASTERSINGERS of NUREMBERG (Pogner). At la Monnaie in Brussels, he created December 19, 1881 Hérodiade (Patrick) by Jules Massenet LUCIENNE BREVAL (4 November 1869, Zürich- 15 August 1935, Neuilly-sur-Seine) Swiss Soprano