American Lyric Soprano Alice Nielsen

Star of Light Musicals and Comedies to Grand Opera

May 22, 2009

Alice Nielsen was a well-known operetta and opera star in America in the late 1800's and the early 1900's. She had a varied career, singing both opera and musicals.

The little girl who was born in Nashville, Tennessee on June 7,1868 (or 1870 or 1876, depending on which authority you consult ), became a star in musicals in her twenties, and went on to become an opera singer. She was raised in Kansas City, Missouri, where she was educated in Catholic schools, and studied voice under Max Desci, a local singer. She also sang in a local church choir, St. Patrick's Catholic Church, which gave her the opportunity to sing solos on Sundays. This would be the beginning of a career in performing.

First Professional Appearance

In 1886, Alice Nielsen joined a touring musical group in performances of The Mikado, by Gilbert and Sullivan. This led to other opportunities to perform and in 1892 she joined three other singers to found the Chicago Church Choir Company. This proved to be unsuccessful, as was her brief marriage to Benjamin Nentwig, the organist at St.Patrick's. She was sued by Nentwig for divorce on the grounds of desertion in February of 1898. They had one son.

Tivoli Opera Company

In 1893, Alice toured with the Burton Stanley Opera Company, singing the part of Yum Yum in The Mikado. While living in California, she auditioned with Henry Clay Barnabee, a bass-baritone with the Boston Ideal Opera Company (The Bostonians), and was accepted into the company. She played the female lead in Robin Hood, by Reginald De Koven (1859-1920), and later sang the lead in The Serenade, by Victor Herbert (1859-1924), at the insistence of Herbert's wife, the soprano Therese Forster.

Singer in Grand Opera

In 1901 she was heard by the impresario Henry Russell( 1812-1900), and urged to study for the classic opera stage. After a benefactor funded her study in Italy for two years, Nielsen made her operatic debut in Gounod's Faust. Her success was assured, and under the management of Lee Schubert she toured the United States in Don Pasquale , an opera buffo by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848).

Metropolitan Opera

She sang on a few occasions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and became a member of the Boston Opera Company in 1909, where she sang in the American premiere performance of L'Enfant Prodigue, by the French composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Alice retired from singing in 1923, after a series of concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She died in New York City, where she had lived since retiring, on March 8,1943.

Source

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