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Part of the American
History & Genealogy Project |
Lillian Nordica 1857 ~ 1914
Lillian Nordica
Madame Lillian Nordica, born Lillian
Norton, was born in Farmington, Maine, and spent her early life
in Boston where her family lived, on account of the educational
advantages for their daughters. Madame Nordica's voice was never
seriously considered until after the death of her next older
sister, Wilhelmina.
On the death of her sister, Madame
Nordica's mother transferred her interest and ambition to the
one whose talent had until then gone unrecognized. At the age of
thirteen she entered the New England Conservatory of Boston with
a scholarship. Her teacher, John O'Neill, was so severe and
exacting that Madame Nordica was the only scholar remaining of
the class at the end of the four years' course. During this
period of study she secured an engagement as soloist at the
Temple Street Church in Boston. Her first appearance was as
soloist with Gilmore's band, giving two concerts a day and
touring through the country. Following this American tour, she
went with the band for concerts in Ireland and Paris, and by the
end of this tour she had saved enough money for a course of
study in Italy under San Giovanni of Milan, who coached her for
her debut as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata."
Madame Nordica has always prided herself
on her American birth, and the affection in which her American
admirers have always held her was shown in the presentation to
her of a magnificent diamond tiara, at the Metropolitan Opera
House in New York some years ago, as a tribute of affection.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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