Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography
(Amadeus). Published in celebration of the 100th anniversary of her birth, this book presents a candid portrait of Ponselle, "the Caruso in petticoats," contrasting the singer's own words, from interviews with the author and others, with the recollections of friends, family members, and colleagues.
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Published in celebration of the 100th anniversary of her birth, this book presents a candid portrait of Ponselle, "the Caruso in petticoats," contrasting the singer's own words, from interviews with the author and others, with the recollections of friends, family members, and colleagues. Publishers Weekly One of this century's greatest sopranos, American-born Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981) was, by this account, a forceful personality, a self-absorbed diva, at times pretentious and petulant, who helped to create the myths surrounding her. With meticulous detective work, Drake, author of the authorized biography Ponselle published in 1982, here brings together, scrapbook style, extensive interviews with the singer, recollections by friends, family members, associates, and documentation (reviews, newspaper articles, correspondence) directly relevant to the events discussed in each interview. The author effectively challenges any number of legends involving Ponselle's penurious childhood in Connecticut, her vaudeville act in 1917-18 with her sister Carmelita, her spectacular operatic and concert career, her mismatched marriage at age 39 to Carl Jackson, the unmusical 29-year-old son of Baltimore's mayor, and her confinement to a psychiatric hospital in 1946, which triggered her return to the Catholic faith. A director of the University of Central Florida, Drake has produced a vibrant tribute to the energetic diva, with photos, memorabilia and a discography, published on the centenary of her birth. (Apr.)
Preface7CHAPTER ONE Wait Till You Hear Her!11CHAPTER TWO I Never Really Have Grown Up43CHAPTER THREE Kid, You Won Your Bet!65CHAPTER FOUR An Overnight Prima Donna93CHAPTER FIVE Flashes of the Grand Manner135CHAPTER SIX A Perfect Voice181CHAPTER SEVEN Sleepless Nights219CHAPTER EIGHT A No-Come-Back Girl261CHAPTER NINE Some Enchanted Evening311Postscript350Notes355A Rosa Ponselle Bibliography by Andrew Farkas399A Chronology of Ponselle's Appearances by Thomas G. Kaufman407Discography by Bill Park447Index487Photographs follow page240
\ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ One of this century's greatest sopranos, American-born Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981) was, by this account, a forceful personality, a self-absorbed diva, at times pretentious and petulant, who helped to create the myths surrounding her. With meticulous detective work, Drake, author of the authorized biography Ponselle published in 1982, here brings together, scrapbook style, extensive interviews with the singer, recollections by friends, family members, associates, and documentation (reviews, newspaper articles, correspondence) directly relevant to the events discussed in each interview. The author effectively challenges any number of legends involving Ponselle's penurious childhood in Connecticut, her vaudeville act in 1917-18 with her sister Carmelita, her spectacular operatic and concert career, her mismatched marriage at age 39 to Carl Jackson, the unmusical 29-year-old son of Baltimore's mayor, and her confinement to a psychiatric hospital in 1946, which triggered her return to the Catholic faith. A director of the University of Central Florida, Drake has produced a vibrant tribute to the energetic diva, with photos, memorabilia and a discography, published on the centenary of her birth. (Apr.)\ \ \ \ \ BooknewsA collection of interviews with the opera singer dubbed "a Caruso in petticoats" and also the recollections of friends and colleagues. Ponselle's life is a romantic one, coming from Meriden, Connecticut, where she began her career on the vaudeville circuit and ended it as a diva on the Met stage. The interviews portray a strong, immensely talented and independent woman who came to dominate the world of opera. Includes photographs and discography. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.\ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsA marvelous celebration of the life and career of the brilliant American soprano, incorporating interviews with the singer (who died in 1981) as well as the recollections of people who worked with her and for her, of family members, and of artistic colleagues.\ Each chapter of interviews is followed by a comprehensive documentary section drawn from such items as letters by Ponselle and reviews of her performances. The result is a fascinating, complex, and convincing portrait of a remarkable woman. Rosa Ponselle was born in 1897, in Meriden, Conn., to Italian immigrants. She studied music with her mother, and with her sister Carmilla formed the Italian Girls, a successful vaudeville act that eventually took them to New York, where they shared the bill with such luminaries as Al Jolson, Ed Wynn, and the Astaires. Caruso heard her sing, and the rest is history: In 1919 she became an overnight star at the Metropolitan Opera, and for roughly 20 years she was the American prima diva, a tempestuous star not just of opera, but the concert stage, radio, and recordings. She made her last appearence at the Met in 1937, after some 365 performances; she was, she tells Drake, "tired of the grind." She spent the rest of her long life as a society hostess, usually living alone (her one marriage didn't last long). We know her through her recordings, most of which she condemns as ruined by "that damned clock" (i.e., the need to fit a performance within the confines of a 78 rpm recording, which drove singers to sing faster and louder, sacrificing nuance and contrast). Some of her recordings, such as the two arias from Vestale made in 1926, are classics. Her recollections of fellow perforers are frank, vivid and perceptive.\ Ponselle's husband remembered her as "alluring, bright, shrewd . . . sometimes just impossible." Drake's splendid book gives us the full measure of her—both as diva and vaudeville star turned society hostess and self-exiled recluse.\ \ \
