Anna Case
Anna Case | |
|---|---|
| File:Anna Case 001.png | |
| Background information | |
| Born | October 29, 1887 |
| Origin | United States |
| Died | January 7, 1984 (aged 96) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Opera singer |
| Years active | 1909–1931 |
Anna Case (October 29, 1887 - January 7, 1984) was an American operatic lyric soprano. She recorded with Thomas Alva Edison, who used her voice extensively in "tone tests" of whether a live audience could tell the difference between the actual singer and a recording. In addition to recordings for Edison Records on both phonograph cylinder and Diamond Disc, Case recorded for Victor and Columbia Records, and made sound film for Vitaphone.
Biography
[edit | edit source]Case was born in Clinton, New Jersey, on October 29, 1887,[1][2][3][4] and educated by vocal trainer Augusta Öhrström-Renard in New York. Case made her debut in 1909 at the New Theatre in New York as the Dutch Boy in Werther, and from 1909 to 1916 was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company. In her first American performances, she created the roles of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier (1913) and Feodor in Boris Godunov (1913).[5] She sang Olympia in Tales of Hoffmann, Mimi in La Boheme, and Micaela in Carmen.[6]
Case wrote the music and lyrics to several songs during the 1910s and 20s.[6][7] She made her film debut in the 1919 silent drama film The Hidden Truth,[8] and sang one of her original songs in the 1926 Vitaphone short La Fiesta.[7] She also appeared in documentaries about sound recording. In 1930, she recorded "Just Awearyin' for You" by Frank Lebby Stanton and Carrie Jacobs-Bond.[9]
On July 18, 1931, Case married ITT Corporation executive Clarence H. Mackay at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Roslyn, New York, and retired from the stage shortly afterwards.[10][11] She began to write songs more prolifically in 1936, penning over 50 in two years,[12][7] and sang occasionally at social events. Her husband died in November, 1938, and Case died in New York City on January 7, 1984, aged 96.[11]
Upon her death, she bequeathed her 167.97-carat (33.59 g) Colombian emerald ring and Cartier necklace containing more than 2,000 diamonds, 35 emeralds and an oval cabochon-cut Columbian emerald of 167.97 carat to the Smithsonian Institution.[13]
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1912 Metropolitan Opera premiere of Boris Godunov with Anna Case, Marie Duchène, Adamo Didur as Boris Godunov, and Leonora Sparkes -
1915 Edison recording of "La sonnambula. Ah! Non credia mirarti", performed by Case
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JT1B-FY6 : 20 May 2014), Anna Mackay, Feb 1984; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
- ^ "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5B-DZFC : 16 March 2018), Anna Case, 1920; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #174387, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 1077, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
- ^ "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5Y-TSDW : 16 March 2018), Anna Case, 1922; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #196201, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 2039, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
- ^ "Hawaii, Honolulu Passenger Lists, 1900-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVR9-2C6H : 8 March 2021), Anna Case, 1925-1926; citing Ship Niagara, NARA microfilm publication A3422 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
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- ^ a b Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Anna Case at IMDb
- ^ Edison's Favorite Singer on YouTube (accessed 7 February 2010).
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- ^ See Clarence Mackay.
External links
[edit | edit source]- Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
- Anna Case at IMDb
- Anna Case papers, 1912-1969 Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
- Anna Case recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
- Anna Case cylinder recordings, from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
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