Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography

[La Scena Musicale]

La Scena Musicale - Vol. 3, No. 4 Décembre / December 1997
email: sc...@brenrose.com | web: http://www.brenrose.com/~scena
(c) La Scena Musicale 1997

Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography
by James A. Drake
534 pages, $54.95
Amadeus Press 1-57467-019-0

James A. Drake's new homage to America's greatest soprano - Rosa
Ponselle: A Centenary Biography - is published on the 100th
anniversary of Rosa Ponselle's birth. Thanks to detailed research and
many interviews with people who knew Ponselle, Drake adds a great deal
of information to the material published in his 1982 Ponselle, A
Singer's Life. A Centenary Biography is a chronological reconstruction
of Ponselle's life through quotations from interviews with the soprano
and her associates. Each chapter includes a summary of sources and the
author's summary.

Rosa Ponselle was born on January 22, 1897 in Meriden, Conneticut to
Italian immigrants. Her musical talent was evident early, and at 19
she joined her sister Carmela on the vaudeville stage. She was
"discovered" at an audition and made her tremendously successful
operatic debut opposite Caruso at the Met premiere of La Forza del
Destino on November 15, 1918. The public adored Ponselle's naturally
warm, flexible and blooming voice. She triumphed in Aida, Norma, La
Traviata and Carmen.

In 1937 while still at the height of her vocal powers Ponselle
abruptly retired from the stage. Drake tells the story of Ponselle's
retirement in great detail. By that time, she was looking for new
challenges. Mortified by Met General Manager Edward Johnson's refusal
to mount a new production Adriana Lecouvreur for her, Ponselle went to
Hollywood in the hope of launching a lucrative screen career. The
studio were ambivalent about her screen tests (they thought her nose
looked too small) and her demand for a million dollar fee cause them
to terminate negotiations. Having failed in Hollywood, Ponselle's
pride would not let her return to the Met. (Opera lovers can find her
Carmen screen tests on The Art of Singing video).

Ponselle spent the rest of her life teaching and promoting young
American talent through the Baltimore Opera. This biography is
fascinating because Ponselle always spoke freely and frankly about her
life and colleagues. Drake has published his Ponselle interviews
virtually intact. Only once, when asked about a certain love affair,
did she refuse comment. Aspects of Ponselle's career already treated
in Drake's earlier biography, such as her involvement with the
Baltimore Opera, are not repeated. As a fascinating narrative and as a
definitive reference (including a performance chronology by Thomas G.
Kaufman, bibliography by Andrew Farkas and discography by Bill Park)
Rosa Ponselle, A Centenary Biography is a timely and valuable addition
to every opera lover's library. Amadeus Press publications are
distributed in Canada by Cavendish Books. Tel: 1-800-665-3166. Fax:
1-800-665-3167. -Wah Keung Chan