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Scotti as Scarpia '"Tosca" Puccini 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

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

WALTHER GUNTHER BRAUN 1874-1947 German Tenor Studied with Torleff in Leipzig and Wolff in Frankfurt .Debut 1896 at Corrbus and sang in operetta until 1901.His grand opera debut was in 1901 at Mainz.Sang in the premeiere of 'Kjartan und Gudrun" Von Klenau as Haldor in 1918. at Mannheim. He concentrated on the Wagner repertory , But other roles included Florenstan 'Fidelio" Beethovan , Huon 'oberon" Weber ,Samson 'Samson et Delilah" Saint Seans , Jose 'Carman" Bizet'

FRANZ NAVAL (Franz Pogacnik) 1865-1939 German Tenor Studied Laibach with Nedred and Vienna with Gansbacher.Debut 1888 at Frankfurt In 'Martha" Flowtow . From 1895-1898 he was a member of the Berlin Hofoper.Sang Rodolfo 'La Boheme" Puccini in Berlin 1897.Sang in Paris 1900-1903 , Metropolitan New York 1903 , He returned to Berlin Hofoper and was a permanent member again 1903-1908 Sang at Covent Garden London 1907 . He sang for 20years and retired and taught singing in Vienna , His roles included Jose 'Carmen" Bizet , Turiddu "Cavalleria Rusticana" Mascagni , Romeo "Romeo & Juliette" Gounod .

Franz Naval as Des Grieux 'Manon" Massenet FRANZ NAVAL (Franz Pogacnik) 1865-1939 German Tenor Studied Laibach with Nedred and Vienna with Gansbacher.Debut 1888 at Frankfurt In 'Martha" Flowtow . From 1895-1898 he was a member of the Berlin Hofoper.Sang Rodolfo 'La Boheme" Puccini in Berlin 1897.Sang in Paris 1900-1903 , Metropolitan New York 1903 , He returned to Berlin Hofoper and was a permanent member again 1903-1908 Sang at Covent Garden London 1907 . He sang for 20years and retired and taught singing in Vienna , His roles included Jose 'Carmen" Bizet , Turiddu "Cavalleria Rusticana" Mascagni , Romeo "romeo & Juliette" Gounod .

PETER DAWSON 1882-1961 Australian Bass-Baritone His first singing lessons were from C J Stevens .In 1901 he won a singing competition in Ballarat . He went to London to study with Sir Charles Santley who sent him firstly to F Bamford in Glasgow for 6 months for training and coaching in vocal exercises, arias, oratorio pieces and classical songs. He then continued his studies with Santley from 1903-1907 who gave him a thorough understanding in voice production and understanding oratorio.In 1904 he toured with Santley and Albani.His only operatic appearance was at Royal Opera Covent Garden in 1909 as The Night Watchman "Miestersingers of Nuremburg".In 1909-1910 he toured Australia with the Australian soprano Amy Castles.His last public performance was in Adelaide in 1961. He gained world-wide recognition through his song recitals and recordings of opera aria's , orotorio and ballads.His career spanned nearly 60 years

EDGAR SCHOFIELD 1889-1961 American Bass-Baritone Studied with Frank Rogers Morse Wemple at the New England Conservatory Boston and The Royal Academy of Music London .He toured with the Quinlin Opera Company as a soloist . He made 3 concert tours of 64 cities with the famous soprano Geraldine Farrar.Performed in concert at Carnegie Hall and Aeolian Hall New York.He also appeared with the New York Philamonic and Cleveland Symphony and appeared at the Worcester festival .After his retirement he opened a studio in Berkeley NY and taught voice at his Berkshire Music Centre and at the Goldovsky Opera School in Lenox. one of students was the American tenor, John McCollum (b 1922) Dedicated to his voice teacher Frank Rogers Morse Wemple (1878-1970), who was a baritone and voice professor at the New England Conservatory of Music Boston

JOHN BROWNLEE 1900-1969 Australian Baritone He entered a singing contest in Ballarat, winning first prize even though he had never had a lesson. Several singing engagements followed. One of these, a performance of Messiah, was attended by Nellie Melba, who convinced him to go to Paris for serious study with Dinh Gilly. His debut took place at Covent Garden on 8 June 1926, in the performance of " La bohème " in which Melba made her farewell appearance. That autumn he was engaged by the Paris Opera, the first time a British subject had been made a permanent member of that company; his Paris debut was in Thaïs in 1927.On 17 February 1937, he appeared for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera. The opera was Rigoletto. Besides making important appearances elsewhere, Brownlee remained a regular at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, and the Met, making his last performance there in March 1957. Brownlee's greatest successes were in the Mozart repertory, particularly at the Glyndebourne Festival. He was also acclaimed in Salome and Pelléas et Mélisande. After retiring from singing, Brownlee became a stage director, making his debut at the Met on 27 November 1958 during a performance of Die Fledermaus

ARMIDA PARSI-PETTINELLA 1868-1944 Italian Contralto Debut at Teatro Costanzi 1892 as Azucena 'Il Trovatore". At La Scala, in 1895 as Anna Bolena "Henri VIII." Saint-Saëns, and also sang Delilah "Samson and Delilah" Saint-Saëns, ,Gertrude "Amleto" She repeated her Delilah at the lirico Barcelona in 1897 .She appeared in the premiere of 'Gugliemo Ratcliff" by Mascagni . Between 1897-1901 she visited South America , Lisbon , Trieste,Odessa and Madrid adding to her repertory Leonora 'Favorita" ,Laura,Amneris,Ortrud,Mignon,Fricka , Fides , Carmen . In 1903 she was back at La Scala as Ulrica in Verdi's "Masked Ball" . Her final appearance at La Scala was 1910 as Dalilah.She retired from the stage after a performance as Dame Quickly 'Falstaff" at Reggio Turin in 1911

ADA CROSSLEY (3 May 1871-17 October1929) Australian Contralto Studied Melbourne with Fanny Simonsen , First stage appearance 1889 in Melbourne concert . Went to London for further study with Sir Charles Santley and in Paris with mathilde Marchesi. Concert and Oratorio singer never appeared in opera

ADA CROSSLEY (3 May 1871-17 October1929) Australian Contralto Studied Melbourne with Fanny Simonsen , First stage appearance 1889 in Melbourne concert . Went to London for further study with Sir Charles Santley and in Paris with mathilde Marchesi. Concert and Oratorio singer never appeared in opera

ADA CROSSLEY (3 May 1871-17 October1929) Australian Contralto Studied Melbourne with Fanny Simonsen , First stage appearance 1889 in Melbourne concert . Went to London for further study with Sir Charles Santley and in Paris with mathilde Marchesi. Concert and Oratorio singer never appeared in opera

As Manon HEDWIG FRANCILLO-KAUFFMANN 1878-1948 Austrian Soprano Studied with Franzi Müller and Emilie Dorr in Vienna, then by Aglaia of Orgeni in Dresden and Maestro Rosario in Milan. Debut in 1898 at the Municipal Theatre of Szczecin.She sang 1899-1902 at the Court Theatre of Wiesbaden, 1902-03 at the Court Opera in Munich, 1903-05 at the Berlin Court Opera. 1905-07 great success at the Komische Oper Berlin. 1907-08 she sang again at the Court Opera Berlin;In 1908 at the Vienna Court Opera, where she worked with brilliant successes until 1912. 1912-1917 she sang at the Opera House of Hamburg. After 1917, she made guest performances and concerts which took her to Vienna, Berlin, Brussels, Paris, London and Munich, but also to South America. In 1927 she gave up her career as a teacher and lived in Berlin and then Vienna

ALFRED JERGER 1889-1976 Austrian Bass-baritone He studied at the Academy of Music in Vienna.In Zurich in 1917 his debut as a baritone. In 1919 he came through the mediation of Richard Strauss at the Munich State Opera . In 1921 he became a member of the Vienna State Opera , where he worked until 1953. Jerger worked here not only as a singer but also as an opera director .On 1 July 1933 he sang in the Semperoper as Mandryka in the world premiere of Richard Strauss' Arabella

LUCY WEIDT (Marie Louise Charlotta Weidt.) 1876-1940 German Soprano Studied with Papier-Paumgartner.Soprano at the Vienna Hofoper for the better part of a quarter of a century. Lucie Weidt’s career was no provincial affair by any means. In Vienna and made her operatic début at Leipzig in 1900. Elisabeth in Tannhäuser was her Vienna début rôle in 1902. While the Hofoper remained the center of her activities until her retirement in 1926, Weidt’s remarkable dramatic soprano voice led to engagements in Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Brussels, Buenos Aires and New York. The Marschallin and Kundry were generally regarded as her finest interpretations. In 1919 she created to role of "The Nurse" (Amme) in Die Frau ohne Schatten. After retirement, she taught in Vienna and resided there till her death.

GLADYS MONCRIEFF OBE 1892 – 1976 Australian Soprano Moncieff was so successful in musical theatre and that she became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and 'Our Glad'. Her first stage performance was at the age of six at the Queen's Theatre in Bundaberg, where she sang the American folk song "The Merriest Girl That's Out" with her father accompanying on piano.] She performed in Gilbert and Sullivan productions.Moncrieff toured South Africa and New Zealand as a leading lady in numerous productions. When she returned to Australia she landed her most famous role as Teresa in Harold Fraser-Simson's light opera The Maid of the Mountains, which she first performed in Melbourne in 1921.The waltz song "Love Will Find a Way" became particularly associated with her. The Maid was to become the most frequently revived musical of the Australian stage, and Moncrieff appeared in it some 2,800 times. She also was a success in A Southern Maid in 1923. She returned to perform in musical comedy, and was engaged to entertain Australian troops fighting in the Second World War at home and in New Guinea, and she became very active raising funds for war-related charities. In 1951 she toured Japan and Korea to entertain British and Australian occupation forces. For her wartime contributions, she was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1952. She continued her stage and radio work, and during 1958 and 1959 began her farewell stage tour of Australia and New Zealand. Her final stage appearance was at Hamilton, New Zealand, and her last public performance was in a televised concert in Brisbane in 1962. She retired to the Gold Coast in 1968

GEORG MAIKL 1872-1951 Austrian Tenot Studied in Stuttgart with Anton Mromada, Debut 1899 at Mannheim as Tamino "The Magic Flute" .In 1904 he was appointed to the Vienna Court opera where he remained for the next 40 years.He sang at the Salzburg Festival's.His roles include Tamino /Belmonte 'The Magic Flute" , Brighella "Ariadne & Naxos" , Vogelsang "Die Meistersanger" , Aegisthus "Elektra".

GEORG MAIKL 1872-1951 Austrian Tenot Studied in Stuttgart with Anton Mromada, Debut 1899 at Mannheim as Tamino "The Magic Flute" .In 1904 he was appointed to the Vienna Court opera where he remained for the next 40 years.He sang at the Salzburg Festival's.His roles include Tamino /Belmonte 'The Magic Flute" , Brighella "Ariadne & Naxos" , Vogelsang "Die Meistersanger" , Aegisthus "Elektra".