
FOREWORD
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
CHAPTER I - THE WAY IT ALL HAPPENED
CHAPTER II - A STRUGGLE AND A SOLUTION
CHAPTER III - PARIS AT LAST
CHAPTER IV - PENSION PERSONALITIES
CHAPTER V - OPERATIC FRANCE VERSUS OPERATIC GERMANY
CHAPTER VI - PREPARING RÔLES IN BERLIN
CHAPTER VII - MY FIRST OPERATIC CONTRACT SIGNED
CHAPTER VIII - MY ONE LONE IMPROPOSITION
The memoir opens with a young woman whose comfortable New York life is upended by a sudden financial crash. Engaged to a modest businessman, she stitches towels and dreams of domesticity, yet an inner voice—both literal and metaphorical—whispers that her destiny lies elsewhere. A childhood steeped in music, with her father's nightly improvisations, turns melody into a first language. This quiet revelation pushes her toward an operatic career.
She heads to Paris and then Germany, where conservatories and opera houses become a micro‑cosm of society. The book paints the pomp of officers in Metz, backstage friendships, and the clash between French lyricism and German rigor, all while exposing the daily sacrifices a singer must make. Vivid anecdotes of costumes, rehearsals, and the unglamorous grind offer a human portrait that will intrigue anyone curious about life behind the curtain.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (327K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material at The Internet Archive.)
Release date
2010-06-26
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1884–1956
An acclaimed mezzo-soprano who later reinvented herself on screen, she moved from the Metropolitan Opera to Hollywood character roles with unusual ease. Her life also reached the page through writing and editorial work, making her career broader than most performers of her era.
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