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Lillian Nordica (December 12, 1857 – May 10, 1914) was an American
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
singer who had a major stage career in Europe and her native country. Nordica established herself as one of the foremost
dramatic soprano A dramatic soprano is a type of operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually (but not always) mean less agility than lighter voices but a ...
s of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She had a powerful yet flexible voice and the ability to perform an unusually wide range of roles in the German, French and Italian operatic repertoires.


Early life and education

Lillian Allen Norton was born in 1857 in a small
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
style farmhouse built by her grandfather on a hill in Farmington, Maine. In her youth, Norton is said to have possessed an inherent fondness for music and the sounds of singing birds and running brooks. When she was eight her family moved to
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
to continue the musical education of her sister Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina died before her 18th birthday. Family hopes were then pinned on Lillian, and her musical education began soon thereafter. She trained as a singer in Boston, graduating from the New England Conservatory in that city at the age of 18.


Career

She made her public debut at the conservatory as a soloist with the
Handel and Haydn Society The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Known colloquially as 'H+H', the organization has been in continual performance since its founding in 1815, the longest-serving suc ...
. Convinced that she could forge a successful career as a professional performer, Norton travelled to Italy and put a final '' bel canto'' polish on her vocalism through study in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. "Nordica", a stage name, was bestowed by an Italian ''
maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...
'' at the beginning of her operatic career. He convinced her that European opera-goers would not tolerate a diva with a plain sounding, Anglo-American name. The adopted name, ''Giglia Nordica'', meant "Lily of the North", but she soon became known as "Madame Nordica" or simply as "Nordica". As Madame Nordica, she made her operatic debut at
Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...
in 1879. She achieved a high rank among the international
prima donna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage per ...
s of her era, appearing in many major musical venues in Western Europe and Russia. She sang for example at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1887-93 and performed at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany in 1894 as Elsa in ''
Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...
''. In her native America she was particularly associated with the
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 oper ...
in New York, where her frequent stage partner was the cultured Polish tenor
Jean de Reszke Jean de Reszke (14 January 18503 April 1925) was a Polish tenor and opera star. Reszke came from a musically inclined family. His mother gave him his first singing lessons and provided a home that was a recognized music centre. His sister Josep ...
. She sang at the Met from 1891 until 1910, with some breaks in between. By all accounts Nordica possessed an extremely big, agile and pure-toned soprano voice which she was prepared to use unstintingly. (See, for instance, Michael Scott, ''The Record of Singing'', Volume One, pp. 38–40.) An adventurous artist, she embraced an enormously varied repertoire which included, among many other works,
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 Decemb ...
, Wagner's '' Ring Cycle'' (as Brünnhilde), ''
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was comp ...
'', ''Lohengrin'', '' La traviata'', ''
Il trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...
'', '' La Gioconda'', ''
Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...
'', ''
Les Huguenots () is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836. Composition history ...
'', ''
Mignon ''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. ...
'' and ''
Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...
''. She established her worldwide reputation as an opera singer of the first magnitude despite facing powerful competition during her career from a number of other outstanding dramatic sopranos. Her main rivals included
Lilli Lehmann Lilli Lehmann, born Elisabeth Maria Lehmann, later Elisabeth Maria Lehmann-Kalisch (24 November 1848 – 17 May 1929) was a German operatic soprano. She was also a voice teacher. Biography The future opera star's father, Karl-August Lehmann, wa ...
, Rosa Sucher,
Katharina Klafsky Katharina Klafsky (19 September 1855 – 22 September 1896) was a Hungarian operatic singer whose acclaimed international career was cut short by a chronic illness which proved fatal. Klafsky was born at Szent-János, Wieselburg, of humble pare ...
,
Milka Ternina Milka Ternina (born Katarina Milka Trnina, pronounced ; 19 December 1863 – 18 May 1941) was a Croatian dramatic soprano who enjoyed a high reputation in major American and European opera houses. Praised by audiences and music critics alike for ...
,
Therese Malten Therese Malten was the stage name of Therese Müller (21 June 1855 – 2 January 1930), a well-known German dramatic soprano. She was born at Insterburg, East Prussia, studied with in Berlin, and made her début in 1873 in Dresden as Pamin ...
, Johanna Gadski,
Félia Litvinne Félia Litvinne (11 October 1860, Saint Petersburg – 12 October 1936, Paris) was a Russian-born, French-based dramatic soprano. She was particularly associated with Wagnerian roles, although she also sang a wide range of parts by other opera co ...
, Olive Fremstad,
Anna von Mildenburg Anna Bellschan von Mildenburg (29 November 1872 – 27 January 1947) was an eminent Wagnerian soprano of Austrian nationality. Known as Anna Bahr-Mildenburg after her 1909 marriage, she had been a protégé of the composer/conductor Gustav Mahl ...
and
Emmy Destinn Emmy Destinn ( (); 26 February 1878 – 28 January 1930) was a Czech operatic soprano with a strong and soaring lyric-dramatic voice. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera. Biography Destinn was born Emíl ...
. She wrote a treatise called ''Hints to Singers''. A copy is appended to her ''Yankee Diva'' biography. By 1913, Nordica's voice and health were in decline. This did not prevent her from embarking misguidedly on a strenuous tour to Australia, which proved to be her last.


Recordings

Nordica made a number of acoustic discs for Columbia Records. They were recorded comparatively late in her career, however, and are of a poor technical standard. Nevertheless, they do indicate her considerable range as a singer, for she is able to perform both coloratura showpieces (such as "Io son Titania" from ''Mignon'') and dramatic Wagnerian solos (such as " Mild und leise" from ''Tristan und Isolde''). Her best known record is probably that of a demanding aria from the Hungarian opera ''Hunyadi Laszlo'' by
Ferenc Erkel Ferenc Erkel ( hu, Erkel Ferenc , german: link=no, Franz Erkel; November 7, 1810June 15, 1893) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and pianist. He was the father of Hungarian grand opera, written mainly on historical themes, which are still o ...
, which she cut in 1907. Nordica can be also heard briefly in some of the Mapleson Cylinders that were recorded during actual performances at the Metropolitan Opera House during the first few years of the 20th century. The sound of these cylinders is primitive but the impressive size of Nordica's voice can be better appreciated as it rings out in a theatre acoustic. A CD of her gramophone and cylinder recordings was released by Marston Records in 2003, complete with extensive liner notes dealing with Nordica's voice and career (see below).


Personal life

Nordica's successful operatic career contrasted with her disastrous personal life. Nordica wed three times. In 1882, she retired from the stage to marry Frederick A. Gower, whom she sued for divorce in 1885, but who disappeared at about the time of the suit, probably having been killed in a balloon accident. Her second marriage was in 1896 to a Hungarian tenor named Zoltán Döhme. He took the title role in ''
Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...
'' at Bayreuth in 1894. She obtained a divorce from him in 1904. Her third marriage was in 1909 to a wealthy New York banker, George W. Young, but it also proved unhappy.


Death

She nearly missed the ship departing Sydney after her 1913 Australian concert tour, but wired the captain asking him to wait for her. It would prove to be a fatal mistake. The ''Tasman'' hit a
coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...
, where it remained for three days, and Nordica suffered
hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...
(exposure) from which she never recovered. She was taken to
Thursday Island, Queensland Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Ca ...
, where she was hospitalised for some time. There she befriended a small American boy who was taken ill while on a different vessel passing through
Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...
. After his death, Nordica installed a gravestone in the local cemetery in his memory. She was well enough on Thursday Island to make a new will, which disinherited her husband. (The Australian poet and novelist Thomas Shapcott dramatised these events in his 1998 novel ''Theatre of Darkness''.) She was then transferred to Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
). She lingered for months, seeming to improve, only to fail again. She died of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
on May 10, 1914, in Batavia.


Legacy

Her birthplace in Farmington, Maine, is today the Nordica Homestead, a museum and historic site. Nordica Auditorium in Merrill Hall at the University of Maine at Farmington is named after her.


References


Bibliography

*


Attribution

* * *


Further reading

* Kennebec Maine Journal, ''Music'', Augusta, Maine, Historical Series, VI of VI, October 23, 1976, Page 7. * Syracuse Herald, ''Lillian Nordica's Voice is Stilled by Death on Other Side of the Globe, Far From Her Friends'', Monday Evening, May 11, 1914, Page 5. * ''The Great Singers'', by Henry Pleasants, fourth edition (Macmillan Publishing, London, 1983). * ''
The Record of Singing ''The Record of Singing'' is a compilation of classical-music singing from the first half of the 20th century, the era of the 78-rpm record. It was issued on LP (with accompanying books) by EMI, successor to the British company His Master's Voi ...
'', Volume One, by Michael Scott (Duckworth, London, 1977).


External links


Nordica Memorial Association and Nordica Homestead Museum, Farmington, Maine

Marston Records
has reissued all the known Lillian Nordica recordings on a CD set.
Slide show of images related to Lillian Nordica from the Maine Memory Network

''Lillian Nordica'', North American Theater Online, Bio and photos

Haunt in The University of Maine at Farmington 116 South St Farmington, Me 04938 Farmington, MAINE Franklin Haunt
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nordica, Lilian 1857 births 1914 deaths American operatic sopranos People from Farmington, Maine 19th-century American women opera singers American stage actresses Deaths from pneumonia in Indonesia University of Maine at Farmington New England Conservatory alumni Burials at Bayview – New York Bay Cemetery