Mary Mellish (soprano)
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^ a b c d e "Opera Has Lost: Mary Mellish". Opera News. Vol. 19, no. 17. February 28, 1955. p. 28.
- ^ a b "Mary Mellish Began As A Pianist". Musical America: 3-4. October 5, 1918.
- ^ Mary Flannery in the New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937, Certificate Number 8379
- ^ "Effort to Save Valuable Costs Mellish His Life". Havre Daily News. November 17, 1927. p. 1.
- ^ Mellish, p. 93-94
- ^ "Estelle Liebling School of Singing". Musical America: 51. November 10, 1928.
- ^ Mellish, p. 96-97
- ^ W. J. Henderson (March 30, 1919). "Surfeit of Musical Rarebits Gives Critic Indegestion". New York Sun. p. 39.
- ^ Richard Aldrich (October 30, 1920). "MUSIC; Miss Mary Mellish's Song Recital". The New York Times.
- ^ "Mary Mellish Appears". The New York Times. December 4, 1922. p. 17.
- ^ James Gibbons Huneker (November 26, 1918). "'BORIS GODUNOW' GIVEN IN ITALIAN". The New York Times. p. 15.
- ^ James Gibbons Huneker (January 25, 1919). "OPERA; LA REINE FIAMMETTE". The New York Times. p. 9.
- ^ Richard Aldrich (December 28, 1919). "WORLD PREMIERE OF 'THE BLUE BIRD'". The New York Times. p. 10.
- ^ Villamil, p. 292
- ^ a b "Mary Mellish". Metropolitan Opera Archives. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
- ^ Franceschina, p. 261
- ^ "New Mimi Delights Philadelphians: Hope Hampton Makes Debut in "La Boheme"-Wins Triumph". The Musical Leader. February 1929.
- ^ "A Singer's Life; SOMETIMES I REMINISCE". The New York Times. February 9, 1941. p. B12.
- ^ "Opera Singer Dies". Canandaigua Daily Messenger. January 31, 1955. p. 8.
Bibliography[edit]
- Mellish, Mary Flannery (1941). A Singer's Life: Sometimes I Reminisce. G. P. Putnam's Sons.
- Franceschina, John (2004). Harry B. Smith: Dean of American Librettists. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781135949082.
- Villamil, Victoria Etnier (2004). From Johnson's Kids to Lemonade Opera: The American Classical Singer Comes of Age. Northeastern University Press. ISBN 9781555536350.