Claude Elwood Albright Roberts (June 5, 1873 – June 26, 1923) was an American opera singer, generally classified as a

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

. She grew up in Albuquerque,

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...

, and was recognized as New Mexico's most famous singer during the early 20th century. She performed with various opera companies during her career, most notably the Carl Rosa Opera Company in the United Kingdom.

Early life

Albright was born in Howard, Kansas in 1873. Her parents were John G. Albright, a newspaperman who later owned the ''

Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was c ...

'', and Franc Luse Albright, a photographer. The family moved to

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

in 1880, and then Albuquerque in 1882. She attended St. Vincent's Academy in Albuquerque, the Kenwood Institute in Chicago, and Vassar College.

Opera career

After leaving Vassar, she went with her mother to Paris, where she took voice lessons from

Anna de La Grange Anna de La Grange de Stankowitch (1825–1905) was a French coloratura soprano. She was one of the most noted opera singers of the nineteenth century, a protégée of Rossini and Meyerbeer, and played Violetta in the American premiere of Verdi's ...

and then joined the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

in 1901. At the time, she was one of only five Americans to have performed there, along with other notable singers like Mary Garden and Sibyl Sanderson. In 1903, she returned to the United States and joined Henry Wilson Savage's Castle Square Opera Company, where she toured nationally in various productions, mostly English-language versions of famous operas. Her best-known roles with the company were as Kundry in '' Parsifal'' and Brünnhilde in '' Die Walküre''. In 1910 she returned to Europe, joining the Stadtheater Bremen and then the influential Carl Rosa Opera Company in London. In Britain she received favorable reviews in a number of leading roles including Azucena in '' Il trovatore'', Ortrud in '' Lohengrin'', and the title role in '' Mignon''. She then came back to the United States in 1912, spending a season with the

Aborn Opera Company The Aborn Opera company was an American opera company that was active from 1895 through 1922. History Founded and operated by brothers Milton Aborn (1864–1933) and Sargent Aborn (1866–1956), the company was based out of New York City but sp ...

. Albright's mother and aunt both died in 1912–13 and she had to take time away from the opera to help settle their estates. She performed at the Panama–California Exposition in San Diego in 1915 and then joined the La Scala Grand Opera Company in Los Angeles for the 1916 season. In 1917 she married Edward W. Roberts, a construction engineer, and largely retired from touring. She died in 1923 of suspected heart failure and was buried at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque.

Recordings

In 1918, Albright made three recordings for Edison Records, which were released as Edison Disc Records under the name Claudia Albright: *''La Partida'' (Edison 6046) *''Clavelitos'' (Edison 6051) *'' Habanera'' (Edison 6057)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albright, Claude Classical musicians from New Mexico 20th-century American women opera singers American operatic mezzo-sopranos Edison Records artists 1873 births 1923 deaths