Name/Title
NewspaperEntry/Object ID
2017.030.1710Scope and Content
This is the San Francisco Chronicle from 03/25/1912. The headline talks of a tablet given to the opera star Luisa Tetrazzini (1871-1941).
The scene: Buenos Aires. The Waterfront. A ship at a dock. A young woman and her lover have booked passage for Brazil. To elude her husband and the press, the woman disguises herself as a sailor. Her lover does the same. Undetected, the two board ship and escape. This is not a scene from an opera! It is one of many dramatic episodes in the life of opera diva Luisa Tetrazzini.
Luisa Tetrazzini, born in Florence in 1871, is said to have started singing at the age of 3. Her initial training began with her sister Eva. Luisa made her debut at the age of 19 in 1890 as Inez in Meyerbeer's L'Africana at the Teatro Pagliano in Florence.
Debuted in Florence, Italy, as Inéz (1890); debuted in U.S. in San Francisco (1907), in Covent Garden, London (1907); with Enrico Caruso, published The Art of Singing (1909); published autobiography, My Life of Song (1921); published How To Sing (1923); sang farewell concert (1933).Collection
Benicia Historical Museum Collection
