Autograph letter signed in full to "Mr. Woolf"
4 pp. of a bifolium. Octavo. Dated Liverpool, England, February 5, 1894. In black ink. On stationery with De Lussan's initials embossed at head.
De Lussan politely asks Woolf if she may sing some of his songs, including "Go Lovely Rose," in England. She supposes he remembers her singing in Boston many times. She will be in Liverpool until the tenth of March.
Very slightly worn; creased at folds.
Zélie De Lussan was an American mezzo-soprano of French descent. She "made her official stage début at Boston in 1884, as Arline in Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl. In 1888 she sang in London as Carmen, a role she is said to have sung more than 1000 times, and in which many considered her the equal of Calvé. She also became famous for her Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and in 1897 was London’s first Musetta in La bohème. Her Metropolitan début in 1894 as Carmen was no less successful, and she appeared there for a further three seasons in roles including Nannetta, Zerlina and Nedda. In 1910 she sang Cherubino in Beecham’s Mozart season at His Majesty’s and Gertrude in Hamlet at Covent Garden; she also worked with smaller companies such as the Carl Rosa and Moody-Manners, with which she sang until 1913. She taught for many years in England, retaining the vitality and charm of her personality well into old age. Her recordings are few but show something of her rich voice and lively temperament." J.B. Steane in Grove Music Online.
Item #23644
Price: $90.00 other currencies