Mary Garden

Mary Garden (20 February 1874 – 3 January 1967) was a Scottish-American operatic lyric soprano, then mezzo-soprano, with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century. She spent the latter part of her childhood and youth in the United States and eventually became an American citizen, although she lived in France for many years and eventually retired to Scotland, where she spent the last 30 years of her life and died.

Described as "the Sarah Bernhardt of opera", Garden was an exceptional actress as well as a talented singer. She was particularly admired for her nuanced performances which employed interesting uses of vocal color. Possessing a beautiful lyric voice that had a wide vocal range and considerable amount of flexibility, Garden first arose to success in Paris during the first decade of the 20th century. She became the leading soprano at the Opéra-Comique; notably portraying roles in several world premieres, including Mélisande in Claude Debussy's '' Pelléas et Mélisande'' (1902). She worked closely with Jules Massenet, in whose operas she excelled. Massenet notably wrote the title role in his opera '' Chérubin'' (1905) for her.

In 1907, Oscar Hammerstein convinced Garden to join the Manhattan Opera House in New York where she became an immediate success. By 1910 she was a household name in America and Garden appeared in operas in several major American cities; including performing with the Boston Opera Company and the Philadelphia Opera Company. Between 1910 and 1932 Garden worked in several opera houses in Chicago. She first worked with the Chicago Grand Opera Company (1910–1913) and then joined the Chicago Opera Association in 1915, ultimately becoming the company's director in 1921. Although director for only one year, Garden was notably responsible for staging the world premiere of Sergei Prokofiev's ''The Love for Three Oranges'' before the company went bankrupt in 1922. Shortly thereafter she became the director of the Chicago Civic Opera where she commissioned the opera '' Camille'' by 28-year-old composer Hamilton Forrest. She sang roles at the Civic Opera until 1931, notably in several United States and world premieres.

Additionally, Garden appeared in two silent films made by Samuel Goldwyn.Michael T.R.B. Turnbull: "Mary Garden", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 9 February 2009) (subscription access)

After retiring from the opera stage in 1934, Garden worked as a talent scout for MGM. She also gave lectures and recitals, mostly on the life and works of Claude Debussy, until 1949. She retired to Scotland and in 1951 published a successful autobiography, ''Mary Garden's Story''.

Her voice is preserved on a number of recordings made for the Gramophone Company (including some with Debussy at the piano), Edison Records, Pathé, Columbia Records and the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1903 and 1929.Biography of Mary Garden
operissimo.com (in German)

Biography

Early life and rise to stardom in Europe

Early years

Mary Garden was born on 20 February 1874 at 35 Charlotte Street, Aberdeen, Scotland, the oldest of the four daughters of Robert Davidson Garden (''b''. 1851), a cashier at the Blaikie ironworks, and his wife Mary (''née'' Joss) (1852–1948). Her parents married a little over a month before her birth. Two of her sisters were born in Scotland while another was born in the United States."Mary Garden, 92, Opera Star, Dead", ''The New York Times'', 5 January 1967

The family moved to Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States when she was nine years old. They then moved to Hartford, Connecticut a few years later, and then to Chicago in 1888 when Mary was 14.

Voice student

She showed promise as a young singer, and studied with Sarah Robinson-Duff in Chicago under the financial support of wealthy patrons David and Florence Mayer. In 1896 she pursued further studies in Paris, chiefly with Ange-Pierre de Trabadelo and Lucien Fugère, still under the support of the Mayers. She also studied some under Jacques Bouhy, Jules Chevalier, and Mathilde Marchesi. In 1899 Garden lost the backing of her benefactors, and she began to study singing with the American soprano Sibyl Sanderson. Sanderson introduced her to Jules Massenet and Albert Carré, the director of the Opéra-Comique.

Operatic debut

Impressed with her voice, Carré invited her to join the roster at the Opéra-Comique in 1900. Garden made her professional opera debut with the company on 10 April 1900 in the title role of Gustave Charpentier's '' Louise'', which had received its world premiere only two months before. Although Garden had been preparing the role, her debut, at the eighth performance of the work, was unscheduled as she was a last minute replacement for Marthe Rioton who had become ill. From 1901 for two years, she carried on an affair with André Messager, who conducted her in ''Louise''. She claimed that when the Opéra-Comique director Albert Carré asked her to marry him, she replied that she had someone else in her life – Messager. Her description is of a tempestuous relationship, but they remained friends until his death.

After her debut, Garden quickly became one of the leading sopranos at the Opéra-Comique. In 1901 she starred in two world premieres, Marie in Lucien Lambert's ''La Marseillaise'' and Diane in Gabriel Pierné's '' La fille de Tabarin''. That same year she sang the title role in Massenet's '' Thaïs'' at Aix-les-Bains

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