Jeanne Gordon (born Ruby May Gordon, January 26, 1885 – February 22, 1952) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

opera singer active during the early 1900s. Gordon was born as Ruby May Gordon in Wallaceburg,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada on January 26, 1885, to David Alexander Gordon (1858–1919) and Rose Fox (1867–1940). Gordon got her big break in July 1919. She was called to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and offered a three-year

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

contract by

Giulio Gatti-Casazza Giulio Gatti-Casazza (3 February 1869 – 2 September 1940) was an Italian opera manager. He was general manager of La Scala in Milan, Italy, from 1898 to 1908 and later the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1908 to 1935. Biography ...

. Shortly after signing her contract she changed her name to Jeanne Gordon. Her debut performance was as Azucena in '' Il trovatore'' on 22 November 1919. In 1919, she created the roles of the Fairy and Mme Berlingot in '' L'oiseau bleu'' by Albert Wolff in its world premiere. Gordon recorded 78s for Columbia and

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

in the 1920s. She made guest appearances with the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1928. In 1933 she had a nervous breakdown. She died of a heart attack at age 67 in Macon, Missouri on February 22, 1952.

References

External links

* * 1920 recording of Madrigal of May at archive.org
Mignon "Connais Tu Le Pays" (Knowest Thou The Land)
at archive.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Jeanne 1885 births 1952 deaths 20th-century Canadian women opera singers Canadian contraltos Operatic contraltos People from Chatham-Kent Musicians from Ontario Canadian expatriates in the United States