Editing Frances Alda (section)

==Career==
Alda was born '''Fanny Jane Davis''' in [[Christchurch]], [[New Zealand]], on 31 May 1879 to David Davis and Leonore Simonsen.<ref group="n">Alda amended her birth year to 1883 to make herself more appealing to operatic managers. This incorrect year is often recorded as her actual year of birth.</ref>

Leonore, a promising singer from a musical family, in September 1880 divorced David and resumed her singing career. Fanny spent her early years traveling with her mother on her operatic tours. After false starts in [[Australasia]], she took Fanny and her younger brother to [[San Francisco]], [[California]] in 1883. Leonore Davis remarried but died of [[peritonitis]] in San Francisco on 29 December 1884, shortly after remarrying, to Herman Adler. After her mother's death, Alda was sent to live with her maternal grandparents, Martin and [[Fanny Simonsen]], in [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]].<ref name=nzwomen>{{cite book|title=The book of New Zealand women|author=Charlotte Macdonald|year=1992|publisher=Williams|location=Wellington, NZ|isbn=0-908912-04-8|edition=First}}</ref>
[[File:Topics, 1920-10-20 - DPLA - 7dbffb7dd2ebb9dbeb6d8632080b6c57 (page 19) (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|1920 newspaper advertisement for an Alda concert at the [[Old National Centre|Murat Theater]] in [[Indianapolis]], USA.]]
She sang in productions of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] in Melbourne before leaving Australia for Europe at the age of 22 in order to undertake additional study and pursue an international singing career like her future soprano rival [[Nellie Melba]]. After receiving lessons in Paris from the renowned teacher [[Mathilde Marchesi]], who gave her her stage name, Alda made her debut at the [[Opéra-Comique]] in 1904 in [[Jules Massenet]]'s ''[[Manon]]''. She appeared at the [[Royal Opera House]] [[Covent Garden]] in 1906, and at [[La Scala]], Milan, during the 1906-08 seasons.

In 1908, the former La Scala impresario [[Giulio Gatti-Casazza]] became director of the [[Metropolitan Opera]]. On 7 December 1908 Alda made her debut there. On 4 April 1910, Alda and Gatti-Casazza married. According to ''American Art News'' (New York, 19 March 1910), [[Adolfo Müller-Ury]] was painting Alda just before her marriage. It was in New York that Alda furthered her career, appearing to acclaim in such famous operas as ''[[Martha (opera)|Martha]]'', ''[[Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon Lescaut]]'', ''[[Otello]]'', ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'', ''[[Mefistofele]]'' and ''[[La bohème]]''. She began recording for the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]] in 1908 and several of her records became best-sellers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|author-link=Joel Whitburn|title=Pop Memories 1890-1954|year=1986|publisher=Record Research, Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn=0-89820-083-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/21 21]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/21}}</ref> She created the title roles in [[Victor Herbert]]'s ''[[Madeleine (opera)|Madeleine]]'' and [[Henry Kimball Hadley|Henry Hadley]]'s ''[[Cleopatra's Night]]'' as well as Roxane in [[Walter Damrosch]]'s ''[[Cyrano (Damrosch)|Cyrano]]''. She also sang regularly with [[Enrico Caruso]].

Alda toured Australia and New Zealand in 1927, saying in an interview she loathed the former.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1927-11-14|title="I LOATHE AUSTRALIA."|pages=5|work=Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article40581839|access-date=2020-09-08}}</ref> She and Gatti-Casazza separated the following year and then divorced. In 1929, she left the Met but continued to give concerts, make radio broadcasts and appear in vaudeville. Alda's 1937 autobiography was titled ''Men, Women, & Tenors''.

On 14 April 1941 in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], she married [[Manhattan]] advertising executive Ray Vir Den; he was a decade younger than she.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mme. Frances Alda Wed To Ray Vir Den. Former Opera. Singer Bride Of New York Advertising Man |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/04/15/archives/mme-frances-alda-wed-to-ray-vir-den-former-opera-singer-bride-of.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 April 1941 }}</ref>

She had an affluent retirement in [[Long Island]], and spent much time travelling . She died of a stroke on 18 September 1952 in [[Venice]], [[Italy]], aged 73.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Frances Alda Dies. Former Met Star. 21 Years Before Retiring in 1929. Sang 40 Roles. A Gatti-Casazza Protege. Came to U.S. With Milanese Impresario in 1908. Stricken by Brain Hemorrhage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/09/19/archives/fraies-aldadie-fopr-met-star-21-years-before-retiring-in-1929-sang.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 19, 1952 }}</ref>
{{Listen
|filename=Frances Alda, O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi).ogg
|title="O mio babbino caro"
|description="[[O mio babbino caro]]" from [[Giacomo Puccini]]'s [[Gianni Schicchi]], sung by Frances Alda in 1919.
}}
{{Listen
|filename=Frances Alda, Ancora un passo (Madama Butterfly).ogg
|title="Ancora un passo"
|description=A 1913 recording of "Ancora un passo" from [[Giacomo Puccini]]'s ''[[Madama Butterfly]]''.
}}
She is buried in All Saints Episcopal Church Cemetery in [[Great Neck, Long Island]].<ref>Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14000 Famous Persons by Scott Wilson</ref>
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