Before and After

News From VHSource, LLC Vol 9 September 2011 Before and After wasn’t long before Nielsen was hired for a touring Those Amazing Herbert Divas season with the Jules Grau Opera Company. hen a composer pens 46 produced operettas, Typically, small opera companies came and went, he obviously utilizes far more than three returning Nielsen back to Kansas City fairly soon Wleading ladies, and yet whenever “Herbert’s with only the St. Patrick’s Church Choir as a divas” are discussed only three major names constantly musical outlet. She next did the very mundane arise: Alice Nielsen, Fritzi Scheff and Emma “normal” thing of marrying the organist and having Trentini. This month we will focus on each of these a son. However, “normal” for Nielsen never lasted illustrious ladies as to who they were before Victor terribly long. Herbert and who they became after Herbert. Each of these ladies had material written expressly for her vocal Escaping what proved to be a rather bad marriage, skills by Herbert. That fact alone will lead us to add Nielsen put Kansas City and apparently her son far one more lady, the huge opera star, Mary Garden behind her, landing in San Francisco in 1890 with the (Natoma), simply because vocally she is certainly the Tivoli Opera Company (W.H. Leahy, director – the equal or better of the other three, and Herbert knew that first of three so named companies in San Francisco she would sing Natoma as he was composing the grand from 1878-1903). There appears to be no more opera. So the famous Herbert “three” must really be mention of her son – one would hope that either the approached as the grand Herbert “four.” father or grandmother stepped into the child’s life. We begin with Alice Nielsen (1872-1943), Herbert’s Nielsen’s time with earliest super star. Nielsen entered this world on June the Tivoli Company 7, 1872, in Nashville Tennessee, born to Danish allowed her to sing troubadour Ramsus Nielsen and Irish musician Sara 150 roles over a four Kilroy. After a brief move to Warrensburg, Missouri to five year period when Alice was two, her father passed away and and introduced her to mother Sara moved the whole family of four siblings to the training of Ms. Kansas City, Missouri. All those singing genes Ida Valegra – produced a rather precocious child. Alice spent a good apparently the only amount of her time singing wherever and whenever vocal instructor with anyone would listen. This “strolling” child singer came whom she studied to the attention of Jakob Dold, a wealthy businessman until after The in the meat packing business who hired the child to Fortune Teller. sing at his daughter’s wedding, and thus, officially While singing in San launched a major American singing career. Francisco she attracted the interest Alice Nielsen Early gigs resulted in the child vocalist representing of The Bostonians Missouri at a musicale at the White House during company on their 1895 tour to the West Coast. This Grove Cleveland’s 1885-1889 presidency (making her became her ticket to New York which exposed her to somewhere between 13 and 17 at the time), and it Theresa Forester Herbert, herself a brilliant 2 News From VHSource, LLC Vol 9 September 2011 soprano and it so happened – wife of Victor. Mrs. She became a major star of the San Carlo Opera Herbert went straight home to insist the composer write Company, which eventually re-located to America for this young singer whether The Bostonians already and Boston specifically. Her roles included Mimi in had a leading lady or not. Thus, Alice Nielsen became Puccini's La Bohème, Norina in Donizetti's Don the first significant Herbert diva when he wrote Pasquale, and Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata. She Yvonne, the second lead in The Serenade (1897) and the San Carol Opera Company would appear specifically for her. Nielsen herself commissioned the with the New York's Metropolitan Opera, as well as roles of Irma/Musette/Fedor (Irma’s twin brother) in in New Orleans, Montreal, Chicago, Boston, and The Fortune Teller (1898) and finally Greta in The elsewhere. This opera company eventually became Singing Girl (1899). See, the following newsletters for the Boston Opera Company in 1909. more information on each of these operettas: Vol. 8 October 2009; Vol. 10 December 2009; and Vol 2 In 1905 Nielsen sang with tenor Enrico Caruso February 2010. (1873-1921) and baritone Antonio Scotti (1866- 1936) at Covent Garden, London, in a highly During The Serenade the relationship between Ms. acclaimed La Bohème. From about 1910 on she Nielsen and The Bostonians (or more appropriately became a concert/recital singer, frequenting between Nielsen and Jessie Bartlett-Davis the soprano Carnegie Hall and other top venues, often joining star of the company) became more and more strained, famed tenor John McCormack. An interesting side and during the Spring of 1898, after finishing her note – at a reception following the opening of contract for The Serenade, the young woman promptly Herbert’s grand opera Natoma which starred took half of the company and founded the Alice McCormack, it has been said that Herbert hailed Ms. Nielsen Opera Company. She immediately Nielsen who had attended the performance from commissioned Herbert to write a new operetta The across the room with “Alice, too bad you left operetta Fortune Teller for her. That mid-western, take charge behind.” At which point the singer answered back background served her very well. “Too bad you did too, Victor.” Ouch! While Nielsen The singer’s final Broadway appearance was in Kitty commissioned another Darlin’ (1917 – librettists PG Wodehouse/Bolton - operetta, The Singing Girl composer Ruldof Friml) after which, she once again in 1899, it was the success tried the marriage route with surgeon Le Roy and longevity of The Stoddard. The couple left New York behind to make Fortune Teller which got a home in Bedford, New York. Nielsen made her her all the way to London final concert appearance with the Boston Symphony in 1901 – the first such Orchestra in 1922. She still thought enough of American operetta to play Victor Herbert to pull together the remnants of the across the ocean. Perhaps Alice Nielsen Opera Company to sing at a 1925 it was the London culture memorial concert for the composer. The Stoddards or the reviews of the managed to sustain twelve years of marriage before London press – Alice divorcing in 1929. Having no more children, Nielsen Nielsen suddenly turned chose to live near a brother in Far Rockaway, her back on operetta and Queens, New York until her death on March 8,1943. light opera in general, Alice as Fedor in The great Italian actress Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) The Fortune Teller disbanded her company once said of Alice Nielsen – “Her voice makes one and returned to the opera dream and forget the realities of life.” world with all the gusto she had previously poured into the Alice Nielsen Opera Company. Another possibility Herbert always created his most challenging and was the desire to place herself in the hands of Enrico delightful melodies for major voices of the day. Once Bevignani, a famed Italian opera conductor, Alice Nielsen effectively left operetta world, it did harpsichordist, composer, and impresario with whom not take very long for Herbert to be introduced to a she now studied until his death in 1903. fine Viennese soprano during the Spring of 1902. Ms 3 News From VHSource, LLC Vol 9 September 2011 Fritzi Scheff, of the Metropolitan Opera Company, normally sing eight to nine times a week – the normal came to Pittsburgh to solo with Herbert’s Pittsburgh load of a Broadway star. The wear and tear on the Orchestra during his 5th season. Soon Charles B. voice is incredible enough in a regular musical Dillingham would entice her away from the Met by comedy, but add to that the demands that Herbert’s simply offering her more money than she had ever writing asked of those fine voices and it is amazing dreamed of. She acknowledged that tidbit to Edward that all the ladies lasted as long as they did. You’ll Waters as he was gathering materials in 1948 for his note that this fact will surface almost immediately in Herbert biography, Victor Herbert, A Life in Music our discussion of The Duchess. (1956). Ms. Scheff allowed him 15 minutes of her time. The more amazing and perhaps telling fact is that Ms. Let’s drop back to see how Scheff never sang opera again. From 1913 to 1918 Fritzi Scheff got to America Ms. Scheff performed primarily on the vaudeville in the first place. Born in circuit, returning to a musical comedy work Vienna, Austria, she studied Glorianna in 1918. In 1915 she made a silent film, voice at the Hoch Pretty Mrs. Smith based on an earlier stage play. In Conservatory in Frankfurt the late 40s and 50s she found herself in sound and made her debut in the movies (playing herself in the 1943 Follies Girl), title role of German television (Amstrong Circle Theatre, the Ed composer Friedrich von Sullivan Show, among others), night clubs and talk Flotow’s (1812-1883) shows. Shortly before her death on April 8, 1954, Martha in 1898 at the age of Scheff appeared on Ralph Edwards’ This Is Your 19. By 1901, the still very Life as an important part of the life of comedian German New York Mack Sennett. The date was March 10th and that Metropolitan Opera evening she sang “Kiss Me Again” at the age of 75 Company had lured her to on national television.

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