1. Emma Eames was an American first lyric soprano, later dramatic soprano renowned for the beauty of her voice.
22 Facts About Emma Eames
1. 2.
Emma Eames sang major lyric and lyric-dramatic roles in opera and had an important career in New York City, London and Paris during the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century.
3.
The daughter of an international lawyer, Eames was born in Shanghai, China, and raised in Portland and Bath in the American state of Maine.
4.
Emma Eames attended school in Boston where she studied singing under Clara Munger, and later with Charles R Adams.
5.
Emma Eames made her professional operatic debut in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette at the Paris Opera's headquarters, the Palais Garnier, in 1889.
6.
Emma Eames would perform the role of Juliette many other times during the next two years, while adding other leading French-opera parts to her repertoire.
7.
Emma Eames left the company in 1891 for personal reasons.
8.
On November 9,1891, Emma Eames made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera on tour in Chicago as Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin.
9.
Emma Eames would perform regularly at the Met in a variety of operas until 1909, when a dispute with management precipitated her departure.
10.
Emma Eames made a number of successful appearances at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
11.
Emma Eames sang there intermittently from 1891 to 1901 and established herself as a genuine rival to Covent Garden's reigning diva, Nellie Melba, whom she heartily disliked.
12.
Emma Eames sang in Madrid and fulfilled lucrative singing engagements at Monaco's chic Monte Carlo Opera during the 1890s.
13.
In 1906, Emma Eames visited San Francisco with a touring troupe of leading Met singers.
14.
Emma Eames was fortunate to survive unscathed when a devastating earthquake and fire struck the city, damaging her hotel.
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Emma Eames then undertook a series of concert tours of the United States, appearing on the recital platform for the last time in 1916, by which time her voice was showing signs of deterioration.
16.
Emma Eames' voice was captured 'live' during an actual performance at the Met in 1903, on some primitive recordings which have become known as the Mapleson Cylinders.
17.
Emma Eames married twice, firstly to a society painter named Julian Russell Story, and then to the famous concert baritone Emilio de Gogorza, with whom she made some records of duets.
18.
Emma Eames had no children, but in her autobiography admitted that she was once pressured into undergoing a certain "medical procedure" to terminate a pregnancy.
19.
Emma Eames moved to New York City in 1936, where she gave vocal tuition.
20.
Emma Eames became fond, too, of attending Broadway shows for relaxation.
21.
Emma Eames died in 1952, after a protracted illness, aged 86 in her Manhattan home.
22.
Emma Eames is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Bath, Maine.