Cyrena Sue Pocock

Cyrena van Gordon was the stage name of an American operatic

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

born Cyrena Sue Pocock on September 4, 1892, in

Camden, Ohio Camden is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Preble County, Ohio, Preble County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,046 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton, Ohio, Dayton Greater Dayton, Metropolita ...

; she died on April 4, 1964, in New York City. In 1912 she married Shirley B. Munns, an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist in Chicago. After studies with Louise Dotti, van Gordon made her operatic debut as Amneris in

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December ...

'' in 1913. A principal member of the opera companies active in Chicago during her career, she also performed in New York City,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and as far afield as San Francisco. She left recordings for the Edison and Columbia companies. Notable events in her career would include the following: *December 26, 1917, created the role of Papantzin in

Henry Kimball Hadley Henry Kimball Hadley (20 December 1871 – 6 September 1937) was an American composer and Conducting, conductor.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th edition, p. 692 Early life Hadley was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, t ...

's short-lived opera ''

Azora, the Daughter of Montezuma ''Azora, The Daughter of Montezuma'' is a 1917 opera in three acts by American composer Henry Kimball Hadley to a libretto in English by author David Stevens. Synopsis The story takes place at the time of the conquest of the Aztecs by Cortez. X ...

''. *October 5, 1919, first New York recital, Aeolian Hall. Her program included

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's ''Come, Beloved''; Carey's ''Pastoral''; songs in English by Salter,

Gretchaninov Alexander Tikhonovich GretchaninovAlso commonly transliterated as ''Aleksandr/Alexandre'' ''Grechaninov/Gretchaninoff/Gretschaninow'' ( rus, Алекса́ндр Ти́хонович Гречани́нов, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲɪtɕɐˈnʲin� ...

, Sturani, Kramer, Hadley, and Spross; an air by Henry Bishop; and a French air by Lenormand. *February 8, 1922, appeared as Venus, opposite the Elisabeth of

Rosa Raisa Rosa Raisa (30 May 189328 September 1963) was a Polish-born and Italian-trained Russian-Jewish dramatic operatic soprano who became a naturalized American. She possessed a voice of remarkable power and was the creator of the title role of Pucci ...

, in the first production in German of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1 ...

'' at New York's

Manhattan Opera House The Manhattan Center is a building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street, it houses Manhattan Center Studios, the location of two recording studios; its Grand Ballroom; and the Hammerstein Ballroo ...

; the work had been heard there in French a dozen years before. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised her voice as being "of genuine beauty, just as in stature she looked the goddess queen." *July 12, 1922, performed the first in a series of six operatic concerts sponsored by

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

in Chicago. She sang on a platform built over the baseball diamond illuminated by electric lighting; the conductor stood over the pitcher's mound. *May 27, 1933, sang "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" at the opening ceremonies of the

Century of Progress A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...

1933 World's Fair in Chicago. *November, 1933, appeared as Delilah in Saint-Saëns's ''

Samson and Delilah Samson and Delilah are Biblical figures. Samson and Delilah may also refer to: In music * ''Samson and Delilah'' (opera), an opera by Camille Saint-Saëns * ''Samson & Delilah'' (album), released in 2013 by V V Brown * "Samson and Delilah" (t ...

'' in San Francisco. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine reported that she received ten curtain calls after singing "

Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix "" is a popular mezzo-soprano aria from Camille Saint-Saëns's opera ''Samson and Delilah'', known in English as "Softly awakes my heart", or more literally "My heart opens itself to your voice". It is sung by Delilah in act 2 as she attempts to ...

"; it also remarked that she "was bigger than Samson enor Giovanni Martinelli">Giovanni_Martinelli.html" ;"title="enor Giovanni Martinelli">enor Giovanni Martinelli *March, 1935, appeared as Clytemnestra in the United States premiere of Christoph Willibald Gluck">Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the ...

References