Opera Singer. Born Franny Jane Davis in New Zealand, she was of Australian parentage. As a teenager, she went to Australia to perform light opera on the stage and showed enough promise to be taken to Paris, France in 1902 to further her career through study under mezzo-soprano Blanche Marchesi, who subsequently renamed her "Frances Alda". Sfter nearly two years of study she debuted in 1904 in the role of ' Manon Lescaut ' in the opera "Manon" at Paris' Opera Comique. She then traveled to Brussels, Belgium and Royal Theatre of the Mint ("La Monnaie"), where she was successful enough to be retained for the three following seasons (1904 to 1907). She also gave performances at London, England's Covent Garden (1906) and Milan, Italy's "La Scala" (1907). Following her successes in Europe, she was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, New York where she debuted, on December 7, 1908, opposite Enrico Caruso as ‘Gilda' in Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto". She remained a principal member of the Metropolitan Opera for nearly 20 years, until her divorce from Giulio Gatti-Cazzatta, that institution's general manager. Her position at "The Met" being thereafter intolerable, she retired in 1929.
Opera Singer. Born Franny Jane Davis in New Zealand, she was of Australian parentage. As a teenager, she went to Australia to perform light opera on the stage and showed enough promise to be taken to Paris, France in 1902 to further her career through study under mezzo-soprano Blanche Marchesi, who subsequently renamed her "Frances Alda". Sfter nearly two years of study she debuted in 1904 in the role of ' Manon Lescaut ' in the opera "Manon" at Paris' Opera Comique. She then traveled to Brussels, Belgium and Royal Theatre of the Mint ("La Monnaie"), where she was successful enough to be retained for the three following seasons (1904 to 1907). She also gave performances at London, England's Covent Garden (1906) and Milan, Italy's "La Scala" (1907). Following her successes in Europe, she was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City, New York where she debuted, on December 7, 1908, opposite Enrico Caruso as ‘Gilda' in Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto". She remained a principal member of the Metropolitan Opera for nearly 20 years, until her divorce from Giulio Gatti-Cazzatta, that institution's general manager. Her position at "The Met" being thereafter intolerable, she retired in 1929.
Bio by: John T. Chiarella
Family Members
Parents
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See more Alda memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current
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U.S., Newspapers.com™ Marriage Index, 1800s-2020
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New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940
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New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018
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UK and Ireland, Newspapers.com™ Marriage Index, 1800s-1999
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