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Mary Mellish (soprano)

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Mary Mellish

Mary Mellish (1890 – 30 January 1955, Albany) was an American operatic soprano and musical theatre actress. She sang six seasons with the Metropolitan Opera from 1918-1924. In 1925 she originated the role of Catherine the Great in Harry B. Smith's Broadway musical Natja

Early life and career

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Marry Mellish was born Mary Flannery in Albany, New York in 1890.[1] She was educated at St. John's Academy in her native city. There she began her initial musical training as a pianist.[2] She married Jay A Mellish in Manhattan on 28 April 1909.[3] They remained married until her husband was killed in a fire in November 1927.[4]

Mellish was trained as a vocalist at the Von Ende School of Music on 85th St in New York City where she was a pupil Adrienne Remenyi Von Ende (daughter of the violinist and composer Ede Reményi).[5] She later studied singing in New York City with Estelle Liebling,[6] and German lieder with composer and pianist Richard Epstein (1869-1919).[7]

Mellish sang with the Oratorio Society of New York prior to her career as a soloist.[2] She gave her first performance at Carnegie Hall in March 1919, performing Musetta's Waltz, "Quando me'n vo'", from La Bohème.[8] In 1920 she gave a song recital at Aeolian Hall that included arias by George Frideric Handel, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.[9] In 1922 she was the soprano soloist in a concert of opera arias with the City Symphony Orchestra at the Century Theatre.[10]

Metropolitan Opera

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Mary Mellish

Mellish was committed to the Metropolitan Opera from 1918-1924 where she sang a total of 20 different roles across 107 performances at the Metropolitan Opera House on 39th st.[1] She made her debut at the Met as Xenia in Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov on 25 November 1918 with Adamo Didur in the title role and Gennaro Papi conducting.[11] At the Met she sang the role of the Second Youth in the United States premiere of La reine Fiammette by Xavier Leroux,[12] and created the role of Happiness in the world premiere of Albert Wolff's L'oiseau bleu on 27 December 1919.[13]

While Mellish mainly specialized in comprimario parts,[14] on occasion she sang larger roles such as the title part in The Golden Cockerel which she performed at the Met on March 29, 1924.[1] Other roles she sang at the Met included Nella in Gianni Schicchi, a high school girl in Shanewis, the handmaiden in L'amore dei tre re, Frasquita in Carmen, Dolcina in Suor Angelica, a choirboy in Le Prophète, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, a flower maiden in Parsifal, Javotte in Manon, Marguerite in Louise, a page in Lohengrin, Helmwige in Die Walküre, and Musetta in La Bohème.[15] Her final performance on the Met stage was at a gala concert on April 6, 1924 in which she performed Micaela's aria, "Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante", from Carmen.[15]

Later life and career

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In 1925 Mellish originated the role of Catherine the Great in Harry B. Smith's Broadway musical Natja which ran at the Knickerbocker Theatre.[16] In 1929 she was committed to the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company; performing Puccini's Musetta.[17]

In 1941 Mellish's autobiography, A Singer's Life: Sometime I Reminisce, was published by G. P. Putnam's Sons.[18] Her second husband, William Boyce Eakin, died in 1951.[1]

Mellish died on 30 January 1955 in Albany, New York.[1][19]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Opera Has Lost: Mary Mellish". Opera News. Vol. 19, no. 17. February 28, 1955. p. 28.
  2. ^ a b "Mary Mellish Began As A Pianist". Musical America: 3-4. October 5, 1918.
  3. ^ Mary Flannery in the New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937, Certificate Number 8379
  4. ^ "Effort to Save Valuable Costs Mellish His Life". Havre Daily News. November 17, 1927. p. 1.
  5. ^ Mellish, p. 93-94
  6. ^ "Estelle Liebling School of Singing". Musical America: 51. November 10, 1928.
  7. ^ Mellish, p. 96-97
  8. ^ W. J. Henderson (March 30, 1919). "Surfeit of Musical Rarebits Gives Critic Indegestion". New York Sun. p. 39.
  9. ^ Richard Aldrich (October 30, 1920). "MUSIC; Miss Mary Mellish's Song Recital". The New York Times.
  10. ^ "Mary Mellish Appears". The New York Times. December 4, 1922. p. 17.
  11. ^ James Gibbons Huneker (November 26, 1918). "'BORIS GODUNOW' GIVEN IN ITALIAN". The New York Times. p. 15.
  12. ^ James Gibbons Huneker (January 25, 1919). "OPERA; LA REINE FIAMMETTE". The New York Times. p. 9.
  13. ^ Richard Aldrich (December 28, 1919). "WORLD PREMIERE OF 'THE BLUE BIRD'". The New York Times. p. 10.
  14. ^ Villamil, p. 292
  15. ^ a b "Mary Mellish". Metropolitan Opera Archives. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  16. ^ Franceschina, p. 261
  17. ^ "New Mimi Delights Philadelphians: Hope Hampton Makes Debut in "La Boheme"-Wins Triumph". The Musical Leader. February 1929.
  18. ^ "A Singer's Life; SOMETIMES I REMINISCE". The New York Times. February 9, 1941. p. B12.
  19. ^ "Opera Singer Dies". Canandaigua Daily Messenger. January 31, 1955. p. 8.

Bibliography

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